


Someone To Remember

by NightOwl1600



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Batfamily Feels, Child Abuse, Damian Wayne is a good brother, De-Aged Tim Drake, Kidnapping, No editing we die like mne, Platonic Relationships Galore, Protective Siblings, SkyHigh Movie References, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, if ya'll remember the villain plan from skyhigh that might be important, sibling feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-05 15:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14621499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightOwl1600/pseuds/NightOwl1600
Summary: On a patrol gone wrong, Damian finds himself stuck with a de-aged Tim Drake to take back to the cave and wait for the others to catch the perpetrators. However, babysitting is not as easy as it seems. Its Gotham after all, and Gotham means stupid generic bad guys who kidnap de-aged vigilantes. Now, the Batfam (Bat-team? Batkids? whatever you want to call them), must rescue Tim before they lose him forever.In addition, Damian final gets to feel what its like to be the older sibling.





	1. The Start of a Long Night

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a while ago and have most of the story already. If you ever watched SkyHigh, just keep the villain plan in mind. I started this off with a really good plot in mind and somewhere down the line it got a bit fuzzy, but you'll get an ending at least. 
> 
> But yeah, so heres my attempt on a de-aged fic. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but sometimes I wish I did. 
> 
> Edit: IT HAS BEEN EDITED TADA (I legit don't know what I'm doing but just roll with it for me)

“Robin to Nightwing, we may have a problem.” Damian said as he stared at the child below him.

“Did you separate from Red Robin again?” Dick asked. “If you two are partnered together for patrol, you’re supposed to stay together for patrol regardless if Batman is here or not.”

“Give it up, Nightwing,” Jason chimed in, “you only put them together because you couldn’t handle their arguing anymore.”

“Ahem, the problem.” Damian reminded impatiently. The kid was staring back at him intently, like he was waiting for Damian to say something. It was freaking him out. “Red Robin is…um…”

“Is he hurt?” Nightwing replied over the comms, “Give us your coordinates and we’ll be there soon. Who attacked you?”

“No. No, its not that.” Damian said slowly as he circled around the child to escape his gaze, “We were attacked by some unknown assailants...and um…” The kid kept following Damian around despite tripping over his too big clothes. “Probably new to the Gotham crime scene and…uh...” There was really no escaping the little guy. If Drake was annoying as a teenager, he was definitely more annoying as a child. “Red Robin took a hit from one of their weapons and is now a child, about the age of 6 or 7,” Damian quickly finished.

There was silence over the comms, then an overwhelming amount of laughter and giggles coming from the rest of the team. 

“Aw. How adorable! I wanna see little Tim!” Stephanie squealed.

“You mean the Replacement is tiny? Like baby tiny?” Jason laughed.

“Wait how did this happen?” Dick asked in shock. “And how is he now? Does he have any injuries?”

“We were ambushed near the docks,” Damian explained, “they were targeting me, but then Red Robin got in the way. The perpetrators disappeared, and Red Robin’s clothes were in a pile on the ground. I thought they vaporized him, but then the child popped out. He’s been staring at me for the past ten minutes and no matter what I do or say he will not cease.”

“Well, you’re the only other person at the docks, right? He’s probably waiting for you to tell him what to do. Kids are like that, ya know?” Batgirl said.

“Does he remember who you are? Try asking him.” Dick told Damian.

Damian took a hesitant step over to Tim and kneeled down to his height. He really wished he didn’t have to though. He was never good with people, most especially Drake. “Do you know who I am?”

Tim didn’t answer. All he did was stare at the “R” symbol on Damian’s uniform. Damian repeated his question. “Do you know who I am?” He paused and thought again, “Do you know who you are?”

“My name is Tim,” the toddler said slowly, like he was still trying to piece things together. He voice was much higher than the voice Damian was used to. It felt weird to his ears. “You’re Damian. Wh-Where’s Bruce?”

Damian went back to the comms, ignoring the question, “He doesn’t seem to have his thoughts in order, but then again, when has Drake ever.”

“Not the time Robin.”

“-Tt- He isn’t thinking like his 16 year old self, but he knows who he is, he knows who I am, and now he’s asking for Father. What do I do?”

“Bring him back to the Cave. Babs can watch over him there.” Nightwing ordered. “The rest of us will search the city for your attackers, just send us their description. After you bring Tim back, rendezvous at the WE rooftop with me. We’ll continue our search together.” 

“Wait, I can’t bring him back.” Damian said.

“And why is that, Demon brat?” Jason asked accusingly.

“Because you imbecile, Father has not trained me on how to care for small children yet,” Damian answered, sounding very annoyed. “I am the least qualified to take him home. Nightwing, I demand you make someone else do it.”

“Sorry lil’D, but you’re the only one in that area,” Dick explained, “everyone else is too far out, and I’m not going to make anyone travel all the way across the city because you were too stubborn to carry Tim.” Damian glanced back at the younger Tim with irritation. Tim looked away shyly.

“Don’t worry Robin!” Steph encouraged, “Just hold him gently, and if he gets too squirmy, bribe him with candy. Usually works for most kids.”

“Fine. I’ll meet you at WE, Nightwing.” Damian admitted defeat and turned his attention back to the toddler who was now looking a little worried. “Drake, you have burdened me with your vulnerability, when you get back to normal, ensure this does not happen again.”

“O-okay. I’m s-sorry.” 

That was not the reaction Damian was expecting. Usually, Drake would have some witty or vicious come back to say. Damian never thought he would ever hear Drake apologize to him after an insult like that. If it was under normal circumstances, Damian might have felt successful, but now, with Tim so young, it made him feel guilty.

“…Good…” Damian said regaining his composure. “I mean, its good to know when you are defeated.” At this point, even Damian knew he was saying all the wrong things. He picked up Red Robin’s grappling hook from the heap of uniform Tim was stuck in and handed it to the kid. “Do you remember how to use that?”

Tim shook his head.

Great. Damian thought to himself. Why did it have to be me?

Damian moved closer to Tim and started wrapping the fabric around his little body, then, with the fabric from the sleeves and pants, he tied Tim to his chest like a baby holder. “There. Hold on. No squirming.” Damian ordered sternly then sighed. “If the other’s saw me, they would laugh. When you get back to normal, you had better thank me for this.” Tim nodded.

With that, the two began leaping from roof top to roof top, making Tim giggle every time they jumped. “Cease your giggling Drake. It is a nuisance we can live without.” Damian ordered unsurely. Tim tried to muffle the sound, but being the child that he was, he couldn’t quite stop it completely.

Damian moaned internally. It was going to be a very long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pseudo-Big brother Damian here we come! Constructive criticism is always appreciated!


	2. Roof Top Tango

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So this is my first time writing a fight scene. Do I know what I'm doing? Kinda. Is it understandable? Hopefully. I guess we're gonna find out. I'm still kinda new to writing so this is just me testing the waters.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> P.S. There's kind of a hinted Tim/Steph, but its not really anything. Just a tease.

“My name is Tim,” the child said. After about 10 minutes of grappling through the city, Tim had finally gotten his giggles under control, much to Damian’s content.

“I know that, Drake.” Damian shrugged as the two swung through the Gotham night sky. He shifted his arm around Tim to make sure he didn’t fall. If Damian was honest with himself, he was getting worried. If they were attacked, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to protect himself while also having to protect a younger Red Robin, no matter the vigilante skills. He needed to get back to the Batcave as soon as possible.

“Why do you keep calling me Drake then? Drake is my last name.” Tim looked up at Damian curiously, but Damian didn’t dare look back. He didn’t know what to do with kids. He thought back to what Brown had said about bribing children.

“Because its more professional. First names are too personal,” Damian added coldly. “If you keep quiet the rest of our way to the Batcave, I’ll give you candy.”

“I don’t want candy. I want answers.”

 _Of course,_ Damian thought to himself, _always has to know everything. Damn Brown and her useless advice._

“If I call you Tim, will you stop talking?”

“No.” _Well it was worth a try._

“-Tt-“ Damian was really wishing he was anywhere but with the kid.

“I thought we were brothers,” Tim stated, thinking out loud, “aren’t brothers supposed to be personal with each other and call each other nicknames and stuff?”

“You’re thinking of Grayson,” Damian answered, still trying to figure out how much of Tim’s 16-year-old memories stayed with him during the change. “He is the one always coming up with the nicknames and pushing brotherly bonding time.” At the mention of bonding time, Damian rolled his eyes. Bonding was beneath him. “I’m Damian. We’re barely brothers.”

“Oh.” Tim sounded a little disappointed. Damian forced himself not to feel guilty about that. “But you’re Bruce’s son. And if you’re Bruce’s son, and we’re kinda brothers, that means either Bruce adopted me, or my parents adopted you. I can’t imagine my parents wanting another kid, so that means that Bruce adopted me.” He paused, and Damian felt a twinge of apprehension. “Why did Bruce adopt me? Did my parents not want me anymore?” Tim asked innocently.

Damian had no idea how to answer that. He knew about what happened to Tim’s parents, how they neglected him as a child, how they had both been murdered while Tim was still Robin, how Bruce had taken Tim in and how he became Timothy Drake-Wayne. But he didn’t know how to explain that to a 7 year old.

Damian decided to take a break from grappling through the city and stopped on top of one of the roofs. His arm was getting tired from holding Tim anyways. He set the toddler down in the middle of the roof and walked to the corner of the roof to get a little privacy, then called in Nightwing.

“Robin to Nightwing, come in Nightwing.” Damian called through the comms, “Drake does not seem to remember what happened to his parents. He is asking why Father adopted him. What do I say?”

Damian waited for Dick, or for anyone really, to tell him what to do. He didn’t want to be the one to have to break the news about Tim’s parent’s deaths. He didn’t know how to comfort anyone and carrying a crying kid was not something he wanted to do tonight.

“Sorry Robin, little busy right now.” Dick replied. It sounded like there was a fight going on in the background. “Can you figure it out on your own? I – Hood on your left! – sorry Dami, I gotta go.”

“Nightwing? Nightwing wait. Hello?” Damian was ready to throw the comm out in frustration when he turned to see two small eyes starring up at him.

“Where are my parents?” Tim asked, obviously not going to leave Damian alone until he got an answer. “Did they leave me with Bruce because they didn’t want me?” Speechless, Damian tried to come up with some story that would pacify Tim for the time being.

“No, they have just left the country.” Damian remembered something about the Drakes always leaving on trips around the world. He was hoping it was enough to fool Tim. “They had business to attend to elsewhere and asked Father to watch over you while they are gone.”

“That still doesn’t explain why Bruce adopted me. He doesn’t need to adopt me if he’s just babysitting me. Plus, whenever my parents are out of the country, they just hire a nanny. You’re a liar.” He had seen right through Damian’s story.

“-Tt- why couldn’t you just be a gullible 7 year old?” Damian mumbled under his breath, thinking of ways to escape the conversation.

“You can tell me the truth. I can handle it.” Tim said hesitantly. “I know they weren’t really interested in me, but I just didn’t think they would give me away. I thought they wanted me a little more than that.”

Damian was gradually beginning to understand how much Tim still remembered. He seemed to have his entire timeline jumbled, like his memories where out of place. He was trying to place where certain events went, but couldn’t because he was missing some pieces.

Damian thought about what Dick would say to him when he felt unwanted. Grayson always made him feel like he had a place. Damian was guessing he should probably try doing the same with Tim, seeing as Tim wasn’t going to stop talking until he got answers. He had already backed Damian into the corner of the roof and was waiting intently for an answer. Damian shifted awkwardly and knelt down so he could look Tim straight in the eyes. This is probably what Grayson would do, right?

“Dra—I mean Tim,” Damian started hoping what he was about to say would be enough to keep Tim satisfied until they got back to the Cave, “its doesn’t matter whether your parents wanted you or not, you are wanted more here, with Father and the others.”

“Bruce wants me around?” Tim questioned shyly, looking towards the ground as he asked.

“Yes. Father has made it apparent to me that he wants to keep you around.” Tim’s eyes light up and hope filled his little face. Damian thought he deserved a pat on the back for making the kid happy, most especially because it was Drake who never seemed happy.

“Even Dick, and Alfred?”

“Yes. And To—I mean Jason. And Cassandra too. Stephanie especially. I think she likes you.” Damian watched as relief settled into Tim’s face. It reminded him of how he felt when he realized he had a home at the Manor. “Can we go now?” Damian asked impatiently.

“Even you?”

Damian’s pride would never let him admit that he wanted Tim around, but deep down, he knew he did. They may argue a lot, but his life wouldn’t be the same without Drake. “I uh—yes.”

Tim smiled at Damian and nodded. His tiny arms went upwards toward Damian in a way that meant he was expecting to be carried. Damian never really liked children, or Tim, but the way Tim looked now made his heart melt, just a little.

As Damian bent down to pick up Tim, he saw shadows move near the corner of the roof. Instinctively, he went into a defensive stance, and pushed Tim behind him.

“Show yourselves cowards,” Damian ordered. Soon enough, 10 ninja like figures stepped out of the darkness.

“Surrender the little one to us,” one of the clothed figures said, “and you can leave. The child will not be harmed. If you do not comply, we will take him by force.”

Damian looked towards Tim. Despite being so young, he didn’t seem scared, but rather analytical, like he was planning an escape. Damian had to hold in a small chuckle. It was just like Tim to analyze every situation, but Damian doubted that a 7 year old would be able to plan his way out of this one.

“-Tt-, I’d like to see you try.” With that, Damian launched himself towards two of the assailants. In one swift move, he slid under them and took them out from behind, knocking them off their feet and into the ground. He quickly withdrew a few batarangs from his utility belt and unleashed an onslaught of projectiles on the rest of the opponents, careful to make sure he didn’t hit Tim.

Hoping that was enough to keep their attention, Damian geared for a fight. He pounced on an assailant and slammed his head into the concrete, rendering him unconscious. Before he was able to get up, a kick to his side had Damian tumbling towards the edge of the roof. He barely had time to pick himself up before a wave of kicks and punches were hurdled his way. Dodging or blocking the majority, he waited for an opening and struck hard. Another two down, which meant he only had five more to go. So why were there only three?

There was no time to find the answer to that questions as one of the men took a swing at him. Another tried to trip him, but Damian’s balance was unwavering. Just some things one learns from being trained by a former acrobat superstar like Grayson. In rapid succession, he clunked the swinger in the head, jabbed the tripper in his side, and watched as the two crumpled to the ground. Wasting to time, he promptly knocked them out for good. The last man on the roof looked at Damian with an evil grin, and before Damian could even move an inch closer, the man jumped off the roof and disappeared into the night.

“-Tt-. Coward.” Damian huffed as he counted the downed men. Seven out of the ten lying unconscious, one escaped, and two…where did the last two go?

He searched the roof but found nothing of the uncounted assailants, nor of Tim. Damian ran over to the corner of the roof he left Tim on. His Red Robin clothes were still there in a pile, and Damian dug through them looking for the child. There was nothing. While he was distracted fighting off their opponents, the last two men took Tim.

Damian let out a frustrated growl and slammed his fist into the concrete. It was always bad when someone was kidnapped, but now with Tim being so young, there was no limit to all the horrible things that could happen. Tim couldn’t even help himself. Its hard finding a kidnapped child in a place like Gotham, and considering the skills these ninja figures had, these guys were probably professionals. Damian swallowed hard. The stakes were high. He held his breathe and tried to calm himself. He was worried, more worried than he wanted anyone to know.

He picked up Tim’s Red Robin uniform and called Nightwing. “Robin to Nightwing. I lost Red Robin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!!


	3. A Weird Feeling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF EXAM WEEK BUT IM STRESS POSTING ANYWAYS HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY
> 
> Also, just a heads up, since I am in the middle of exam week the next update might take a while. But don't worry! I already have it all written down, just need to reread!

“What happened? Give us your location and we’ll meet you there,” Nightwing said as calmly as he could through the comms. Truth be told, Dick was going into a panic frenzy inside. Someone just kidnapped his little brother, who could no longer defend himself because of some stupid weapon that turned him into a kid.

Robin sent his coordinates to Nightwing and the others, then narrated the little scuffle he had on the roof when Tim was taken. Once he finished his story, the others erupted with confusion, anger, and worry over the comms.

“Do you think it was the average Gotham thug or someone with more fire power?”

“Whoever did this is gonna get a big ass wooping from the Red Hood.”

“Get in line Hood. Anyone who hurts a baby Red Robin has to answer to Batgirl first.”

“Focus please. Red Robin in trouble here,” Nightwing interjected. He could practically hear Steph’s and Jason’s faces forming into a scowl. “I’m going to call Oracle again and see if she’s got anything.” 

Damian huffed impatiently, but Dick understood what that little huff meant. He could feel the waves of guilt emanating through Damian’s comm. 

So much for a simple patrol.

***  
Tim struggled in his captor’s grasped as he was carried away from the roof Robin was fighting on. It was cold, and all he was wearing was an oversized undershirt that went all the way to his knees. His arms and feet were bound and his cries for help muffled by a rag wrapped over his mouth. He kept on kicking the man that was carrying him, hoping he would let go and buy Robin some time to get to them.

“Quit it. Unless you want to be dropped off the roof,” the man said, readjusting his hold on the child. “And if you think being kidnapped is scary, trust me, falling to death off a 3 story building is much worse.”

“Don’t,” his partner reprimanded, “the order was to deliver him alive.” He turned his attention to Tim. “But don’t think for a second that we won’t rough house you just because you’re a kid.”

Tim stopped moving, realizing that the man was right. If he dropped him, Tim would fall to his death. That worried him, but it didn’t scare him, not like the men wanted it to anyway. He may be a kid, but Tim had a plan. He felt for the small device he had picked up before being taken. It was still there, hidden inside his fist. 

He didn’t really know how to explain he knew the Red Robin uniform had a tracking device, or how he knew where to find it, or who Red Robin even was. The child just knew that if he took the tracking device with him, his family could find him.

Family. Tim thought to himself.

The thought shook Tim to his core and scared him more than he thought possible. He was afraid he’d never see them again. He wasn’t even sure who his family was anymore. He knew his mom and his dad, but something deep down was telling him that he had a different family, one that loved him more than his parents ever could. He was pretty sure it was the family he shared with Damian, but he felt like he was missing pieces of it. He knew Bruce, Alfred, and Dick, and could vaguely remember Steph, Cass, Barbra, Jason, and Damian, but there was something wrong. He wasn’t remembering everything, and that frustrated him just as much as it terrified him. 

If he never saw them again, he would never figure out why he felt so attached to them or why he felt compelled to call them family. The idea of that was enough to make the young Tim’s eyes tear a bit as he whimper softly.

“Shut up, kid,” the man said as they landed on one of the streets. They walked to a nearby getaway car, stuffed Tim in the trunk, and began driving. 

It was dark, cramped, and smelled like dirty T-shirts inside. Tim laid in silence, sparring a glance at the device in his hand. There was a little red light emanating from it. 

Good. Tim thought to himself, they’re tracking me. 

All he could do was wait and hope his family made it to him before anything really bad happened.

***  
“I don’t understand. His uniform is in my hand. What do you mean his tracking device is moving, Oracle?” Nightwing asked. He had finally made it to the roof Robin was on and helped tie up the last of the attackers.

“I mean exactly what I said. His tracking device is moving at 70mph through downtown Gotham,” Oracle replied in a very serious tone.

“Perhaps he took his tracking device with him before he was captured,” Robin offered as an answer. “Smart,” he whispered under his breath, because, God forbid anyone from hearing him praise Tim.

Nightwing noticed of course. “Yeah, really smart, especially for a 7 year old. Maybe he’s still got some of his Red Robin knowledge in him.” Dick was praying that was the case. At least if he had some of those skills, Tim could put up a fight if he really needed to, but even that was highly unlikely. “He’s giving us a chance to find him so lets not waste it. Oracle, keep us posted on his position. Red Hood and Batgirl, get your motorcycles and follow the car. Robin and I will head back to the cave and drive the Batmobile. Nightwing out,” he said as he hung up the comm.

Dick analyzed the Red Robin uniform in his hand. Whenever Bruce and Alfred left for out of country business, he was left in charge of both the family’s day and night lives. He could handle it, of course, but when things like this happened, he can’t help but beat himself up about it. One of his brothers de-aged and kidnapped in one night; Dick was sure he had been cursed. He was worried sick about Tim. Even if he was his actual age, Dick would still be worried, but with Tim as a 7 year old, he was ready to rip his own hair out. There were several gruesome situations Dick could name off the top of his head that happened to kidnapped children, and considering this was Gotham, the likelihood of one, or more, of them happening to Tim was very high. Most ended in murder or mutilation. 

That wasn’t the only problem though. Damian seemed more tense than usual. Dick knew that Damian always worried when one of their own went missing, but something about this specific situation seemed to make Damian extremely uneasy. “Robin, are you injured?”

“What?”

“Are you injured? You seem a little off.”

“-Tt- I’m fine Nightwing. Lets just get moving.” Damian, without a moment’s hesitation, grabbed his grappling hook and launched himself off the roof.

It didn’t take Nightwing long to figure out it wasn’t an injury throwing his little brother off, but his own emotions. With Red Robin’s uniform tucked under his arm, Dick followed Robin with his own grappling hook. 

“Well there’s something wrong,” Dick said as they swung through the Gotham night. “and I won’t put you above hiding an injury for the sake of a mission. If its not that, then tell me what it is.”

Damian let a few moments of silence pass before he answered. “Is this what it feels like?”

“What do you mean?” Dick asked, somewhat shocked at the question.

“To be the older one? To have someone younger than you be taken?” Damian paused and sucked in a deep breath, “Is this what it feels like when I go missing?”

“No.”

“No?”

Dick knew what Damian was talking about. The horrible feeling of failure when one of his younger siblings gets in serious trouble because he messed up. He just didn’t realize that Damian did not know how that felt like. He should have guessed though. Damian was the youngest and had never encountered anything like this before. Considering Damian was never the best when it came to deciphering emotions, Dick figured a feeling like this could really confuse him.

“I get what you’re saying Robin,” Dick explained, “but this isn’t like the times when you’ve gone missing. At least with you, I know you can defend yourself, but with Red Robin the way he is right now, the stakes are higher. But if you’re asking about the protective-responsible-big-brother feeling, then yes. This is essentially how it feels when you, or as a matter of fact anyone in this family, goes missing. Or at least that’s how I feel. You know, being the oldest.”

“It feels like I’m carrying the weight of the world.” Damian replied.

“Yeah. That’s the feeling.”

“It feels like I’m about to have a panic attack, but also like I want to punch whoever did this.”

“I know Robin. I know. Kind of like your heart is about to explode because its beating too fast even if you’re barely moving, right?”

“Yeah.”

The duo moved across the city in silence, soaking in the cool air night. Dick wondered how Damian must be trying to translates all these feelings into something more professional, or violent, but he knew that this specific feeling didn’t work that way. He couldn’t will it to just leave or direct it somewhere else. It was stuck. Dick knew. Dick had tried.

“Don’t worry Robin, he’ll be fine. We’ll get him back before anything bad happens to him.” Dick encouraged, a mantra he used whenever one of his siblings got caught or injured.

“Nightwing?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry for all the times I made you worry like this.”

Dick couldn’t help but grin. “It’s alright lil’D. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damian gets karma for all the times he's gone missing without telling anybody where he's going. Welcome to older sibling life Damian.
> 
> Ok, but I'm gonna be real with you guys. I'm not so sure how I feel about this chapter. I think I could have paced it better but I honestly don't know how to fix it anymore. So, as always, constructive criticism or tips or commentary and all that jazz is welcome!


	4. Rocket Launchers and Red Flags

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am done with exams! And here is the next chapter! Warnings for some intense/violent scenes with a small child being hurt.

Jason’s head was steaming with rage as he and Steph drove through the streets of downtown Gotham. It was no secret that he hated crooks who took advantage of kids, but it seemed obvious to him that whoever took Tim did not get the memo. 

One does not simply take a child of the Bats and walk away fine.

Of course, Jason would never let anyone know about his secret pledge. He had a reputation to keep up. 

He and Steph accelerated as quickly as they could, following the GPS coordinates Oracle had been sending them. They were close now, and, as far as Jason understood, the crooks had no idea they were being followed. Jason was very thankful that Tim was smart enough to grab the tracking device and smuggle it in with him.

He figured that, with both Red Hood and Batgirl together, the kidnappers wouldn’t stand a chance. That was, until his motorcycle took a bullet to the wheel.

“Hood!” Steph called out as her motorcycle screeched to a stop. The tire of Jason’s motorcycle had popped and sent Jason and the vehicle flying through the air. 

Jason narrowly avoided being crushed by his motorcycle, but did land hard on his arm. It felt like it was dislocated. To his side, he could see Batgirl tossing batarangs towards the direction the bullet came from, but he couldn’t see who she was aiming for.

“Hood! Take cover!” Batgirl ordered as she dove behind a nearby car. Red Hood snapped backed into action and followed her lead. Once the two were behind the car, a barrage of bullets came flying their way.

“How many?” Red Hood asked.

“Don’t know. I couldn’t get a good look. He’s too high up for me to see. Considering we were aimed at one at a time, I think its probably just one.” Batgirl replied as she searched her utility belt for anything that might help.

“It’s the one that ditched Robin on the roof,” Jason surmised, “Two were missing, one escaped. Its that one.”

“We need to catch him quick before he tells the other two. Got any ideas?”

Jason smirked. He might not be as good as Tim was with planning, but he did have an idea. With his uninjured arm, he pulled one of his guns from its holster, leaped out of the cover the car was providing, and began to return fire while simultaneously avoiding being shot. 

“Hood! What are you doing?!” Batgirl yelled at him wide-eyed as the bombardment of bullets left the car and focused in on Red Hood.

“Take your motorcycle and follow the car! I’ll take care of this creep!” Jason said as he got closer and closer to the building the man was situated on. He could see him now. One guy. He just had to avoid getting shot long enough to take him out.

He was right up against the building now, looking for a way to get to the top. Scaling the walls and windows were ruled out since he had an injured arm, and the other was being to used to return fire. He was making his way towards a rickety fire escape when suddenly, the shower of bullets stopped. Jason stole a glance up the building and saw the man take out a rocket launcher.

Jason cursed under his breath as he saw who it was aimed at. “Batgirl, get out of the way!” Jason shouted through the comms. Steph immediately bailed off the bike and jumped through a window into one of the closed diners. Not a moment later, the rocket had hit her motorcycle and blew it up in flames.

Jason watched the bike burn in the intense heat and began to worry when Steph did not immediately get out of the restaurant. “Batgirl, are you okay?” No answer. “Batgirl? Batgirl answer me.” All Jason could hear was silence for a good minute or two. 

“Was that a rocket launcher?!” Steph suddenly shouted into the comms, making Jason flinch at the volume of her voice.

“Ow. Yes. It was a rocket launcher. Could ya quiet down a bit? You’re making my ear bleed.” Jason replied.

“The shooter. Hood, did you get him?” 

Red Hood looked back up at the building. There was no sign of the man. Jason bit back a curse. “No. He got away.”

“And now our rides are on fire. Great.” Batgirl said sounding exasperated. She exited the restaurant and made her way to Red Hood. “Hood, you’re arm’s dislocated.” She pointed out.

“Yeah, and you broke a restaurant window that B is probably going to have to pay for some how. What’s your point?” Jason asked. He really didn’t want to dwell on his injury. He just wanted to punch the guys who thought they could kidnap his brother and blow up his bike without consequence.

“Well, we are obviously going to have to walk from here on out. Do you wanna run with that, or do you want me to fix it?” Batigrl asked. 

Jason groaned. “Fix it.”

“This is probably going to hurt. A lot.”

***  
Tim hit the side of the trunk as the car came to a quick stop. He guessed they’d been driving for about 30 minutes give or take. It smelled like ocean water, so he thought they might have brought him to the Gotham Harbor. He was starting to get worried. Someone should have come to rescue him by now.

Tim put his ear to the edge of the car to hear what was going on. The two men driving the vehicle had gotten out but there were three voices speaking. The sound was muffled, but he could easily make out the conversation.

“—being followed. By the Red Hood and Batgirl!” This was not one of the voices from the men that had abducted him. This was a new person. “You’re lucky I blew them up before they caught up with you!”

“Wait, you killed the Red Hood and Batgirl?” the other man asked.

No. Tim thought to himself as a sense of dread curled in his stomach. They can’t be…dead.

Tim braced himself for the answer. “No. I just blew up their bikes. We don’t need more reasons to have the Bats after us.” Tim let himself relax a little. “But that doesn’t fix the problem. They’ll be back, maybe with more reinforcements. So,” the man sounded agitated, “please tell me how they were able to know exactly where you were going?”

There was a moment of silence. 

The third man was talking slowly, like he was about to explode with anger. “Did you check if the kid had anything on him before you took him?”

“We left all his stuff on the roof. All he’s wearing is an under shirt. Unless there’s a tracking device inside his body, then I don’t think he’s got anything on him.” 

“Did you check?”

More silence. The third man made an angry grumble, and Tim could hear his heavy footsteps approaching the trunk. He squinted his eyes as light flooded the cramped space and rough hands pulled him out of the car and onto the pavement. Tim lay on the ground with his arms, feet, and mouth bound, and his hands tightly holding the tracking device in order to conceal it as best he could.

This is not good. Tim thought to himself as he looked up at his captors. 

The man who pulled him out of the trunk bent down and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt so that their faces were mere inches apart. “How did they know where to find us?” the man asked in a dark, serious tone. He ripped the muffle off Tim’s face and waited for a reply

Tim remained silent. He wasn’t scared, but he knew he needed the tracking device if he wanted a chance at survival. The best bet he had was to keep quiet and hope the men would believe he was too afraid to speak.

The man shook him aggressively. “Hey! I’m talking to you! How did the Red Hood and Batgirl know where we were going?”

Absolute silence. Tim didn’t dare make eye contact.

“Okay. Fine. Two can play at this game,” the man reached for something in his back pocket.

“Wait what are you—“ one of the men from behind began to make his way towards them.

“Relax. I know what I’m doing,” the third man said as revealed a switchblade pocket knife. “I’m going to ask nicely one more time, and you’re going to have to tell me the most honest answer you have.” The man spoke as if he was speaking to a kindergartener while he waved the knife in front of Tim’s face. “Where is the tracking device that the Red Hood and Batgirl used to find you?” He put the knife to Tim’s neck.

Tim slowed he breathing, only taking in what he needed. “You aren’t going to kill me,” Tim said, “if you wanted to do that, you wouldn’t have tried so hard to kidnap me.” Tim finished with a smirk and witty glint in his eyes. 

The man threw Tim to the side and into one of the many warehouse walls. He landed there with an unff while the other two men shouted in surprise. The third just huffed in annoyance. 

“What are you doing?! We can’t kill the kid! Are you listening?!” One of the men shouted at the third.

“He’s smart, you should have checked before you took him. Just check the car, I’ll interrogate the runt.” The man with the knife said as he made his way to where he’d thrown Tim.

Tim’s head was spinning as he was picked up and dragged into another corner of the dock. The ground was cold, and then only thing he had on was an oversized undershirt. They were in the shadows now. His arms and legs were tied. The man had a knife. Anything could happen.

He tried to get up and scramble away, but the moment he finally stood, he tripped himself with his still bound legs. Before he could turn around, a foot was planted into his back and smashed him into the ground. 

“I take it back, you’re not so smart after all. Know when you’re defeated and surrender. It makes things easier.”

“For you!” Tim shouted back as the man put more force into his back. The man’s foot was just as big, if not bigger than his back and completely dissuaded any hope of escape. He couldn’t help the small whimpering sounds that came from his mouth. 

“Just tell me where you hid the tracker, or I will have cut you apart piece by piece to find it.” The man’s voiced leaked with intensity as he leaned down and put his knife within Tim’s view to show how serious he was. “I am going to count to five. Don’t let me get to five or I swear you will regret it.”

He pulled away from Tim’s face but put even more weight into his foot on Tim’s back. Tim yelped in pain. “One…Two…” Each number the force on his back would slowly increase. Tim’s chest was gradually being squished which made it harder for him to breathe. “…Three…” Tim’s vision was going black from lack of oxygen. He knew it wouldn’t be long until he was unconscious. “…Four…”

As Tim’s vision clouded with dark blobs, his hands loosened, revealing the red light of the tracking device through his fingers. The man saw this and immediately grabbed the small machine from his hands. “There it is.” He said with an evil grin. “Was that so hard?”

He removed his foot from Tim’s back. The boy gasped and let the much-needed air fill his lungs. Tim couldn’t help but let his childish instincts take over as fear flooded his small body. Realization dawned on him that, without the device, the others would have no way of finding him. “I…want…to go…home.” Tim groaned as he swallowed as much air as he could muster. 

The man pulled him up by the collar of his shirt and began to drag Tim back to the car. “You are going home kid. But a new home. You’ll learn to like it,” he scoffed.

Tim, as young as he was, knew that was not a good sign. Big red flags everywhere. He’s options were few and fading fast. There was really only one thing he could do now.

“Help!” He screamed as loud as he could, “Someone help me!” Truth be told, he hated feeling so helpless, but he really didn’t have a choice at this point. He kicked and squirmed and did whatever he could to give his captor a hard time. “I’ve been kidnapped!”

Before he knew what had happened, Tim felt a hot sting on his cheeks and tried to pry himself away from the danger. The man had slapped him hard and placed a gag on his mouth to keep him quiet. “It doesn’t even matter,” the man grumbled to himself, “nobody around here.”

Tim was brought back to the car and placed in the backseat rather than the trunk this time. The man locked the door and rejoined his companions to discuss their next move. Tim watched closely from inside the car.

“What did you do? I swear, if you damaged him too much we’ll all be in trouble,” one of the men asked.

The man with the pocketknife simply replied, “Doesn’t matter what I did, just matters that now I know what to do.” He showed his companions the tiny tracking device he had taken from Tim and glanced back at the car to look at the boy, as if to taunt him about it. The two made eye contact for the briefest moment before the man went back to planning with his co-kidnappers. 

Again, red flags everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Tips and comments and constructive criticism and all that jazz is welcome.
> 
> Also, my tumblr blog just reached 1000 followers, so I'm having this thing where you guys get to vote which fic I write. I don't wanna leave you guys out so here's the link to see the options:
> 
> https://nitghowl1600.tumblr.com/post/174264548066/we-just-reached-1000-followers-ok-actually-this
> 
> Again, hope you liked it!


	5. Dots on a Screen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I feel bad that I made Barbra Oracle in this instead of Batgirl, but I also like her as Oracle. Gosh darn it. 
> 
> I think this is more of a chiller chapter so hope ya'll enjoy.

“Nightwing to Batgirl, have you found Red Robin yet?” Dick said as he drove the Batmobile out of the cave. Damian was seated in the passenger seat looking tenser than ever.

“Nada. One of the assailants that attacked Robin came at us with rocket launchers. _Rocket launchers_ , Nightwing. Who does that?” Batgirl replied through her comm. 

Dick heaved in a deep breath, “People who are really going to regret taking Red. Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah,” Jason answered this time, “our rides just blew up so we’ll be walking the rest of the way.”

“Ahem,” Steph piqued to get attention back to her, “aren’t you gonna tell him about you’re a—“ 

“No everything’s fine.” Jason interrupted.

“Hood, are you injured?”

“No.”

“Hood, really? Don’t try do anything you’re gonna regret.”

“The only thing I’m regretting is wasting time talking to you instead of looking for Red.” 

“Hood, I would prefe—“

“Todd if you are injured then report back before you become more of a nuisance to the rest of us and burden our search for Drake even more than you already have!” Damian shouted with as much vice and anger as he could muster.

“Okay listen up, squirt! The only reason he’s gone is because he took a shot for you and you didn’t protect him on the roof! So don’t go bothering me about being a burden!” Jason retorted back. Dick could see Damian in his peripheral view and how the kid had flinched at the jab. It was about time he stepped into this argument.

Before he could however, Oracle chimed into all of their comms. “If you’re all done arguing I have some news. Red’s tracker has stopped near the docs. Red Hood, Batgirl, if you run there now, you’ll probably have a chance to catch them. Nightwing and Robin can meet you there in case Red Robin needs to be brought in quickly for injuries.”

At the mention of emergency procedures, the vigilantes stiffened, but Dick figured that Babs was right about that. It was better to be over prepared than under prepared. Nevertheless, it put his nerves even further on edge. 

“Thanks Oracle. Will do.” Dick said,” everyone got that?” 

Once they all gave the affirmative, the heroes sprang into action to look for their lost brother, no more arguing incurred. However, Dick could feel how much Jason’s words had hurt Damian, no matter how much the kid tried to hide it.

“It wasn’t your fault Robin,” Dick tried to encourage.

All he got in reply was a very disheartened “-Tt-“ 

****

Barbra hated hearing them fight over the comms, but she needed to tell them of the opportunity before it was gone. She just got really annoyed whenever it happened. Sometimes it was Jason and Tim, sometimes Steph and Dick would join in too, most of the time it was Tim and Damian, but today it was Damian and Jason. She was glad she chose to tune out their comms for a while. The last thing Oracle needed was distractions.

Barbra closely watched the red blinking light that represented Tim’s tracking device flicker on the screen. She always knew that kid was smart, and the proof was starring her right in the face. A 7 year old Tim was smart enough to bring a tracking device with him. Who would have thought?

She scanned through different security footage from around the area to see if she could spot Tim. Nothing yet. Most of the camera’s showed either dark alleyways or empty warehouses with no sign of life anywhere. Whoever these guys were, they were good enough to hide away from cameras. That was just really annoying.

Her scrolling came to a stop when she noticed a small shift in the shadows. It was down a dark alleyway and nearly out of the camera’s view, but it was there nonetheless. Barbra zoomed in closer and she could make out a buff man seeming to crush something underfoot. 

“Guys, I got something in the alley.” Oracle warned the others through the comms, “looks like a man and he’s stepping on something. Its around the same area Red’s tracking device is. Not sure if its related or just some random guy. Might be a good idea to check it out.”

“Will do, Oracle.” Batgirl chirped, sounding like she was gliding through air at rapid speeds.

Barbra watched as the man bent down and picked something up. The alley was too dark and the footage too blurred to see what the man had in his hand, but whatever it was must have pleased him greatly. He removed his foot from whatever he had been stepping on and seemed to be smiling down at something. Was he talking to the ground?

At that instance, the man bent down again and picked up a child. _A young child._ Dang it. Barbra knew what that meant. She quickly informed the others.

“The random man in the alleyway, not so random. The thing he was stepping on was Tim,” Oracle said with conviction. Even if she couldn’t see the other’s faces, she could feel their anger boil. “Batgirl, Red Hood, how far out are you? They seem to be getting ready to move.” 

“We’re rushing. Maybe 10 minutes.” Red Hood answered.

Barbra turned on the audio of the footage. It took a while to get it, but she had it. Tim’s cries for help came over the speaker. She forgot, however, that her comm line was still open. 

“Help! Somebody help me! I’ve been kidnapped!” a young, childish version of Tim’s voice sounded through the Batcave.

“What are they doing to him?!” Robin yelled frantically. If Barbra wasn’t so focused on the scene in front of her, she’d be surprised at Damian’s sudden burst of emotions. 

“The kidnapper is dragging him away, out of camera angle. I can’t see everything.” Barbra explained, but she could see the figure’s movements. The large man’s hand rose and slapped Tim across the face. The smack sound was so loud, it could be heard even by the camera’s microphones. All of Tim’s pleas had subsided and Barbra could vaguely make out the muffle being placed the young child’s mouth.

 “Oracle, explain!” Robin ordered in a very rushed tone. “What was that sound?!”

“Robin, calm down!” Dick yelled “Oracle, what’s happening?”

“He slapped Tim and put a muffle on him. They’ve just left the camera view. I can try to see if I can catch them on other angles.” Barbra said as she searched all the remaining cameras in the area. Hope began to fade after 3 minutes of no luck. “There aren’t any cameras covering them anymore,” she explained, “I’ll check the police lines in case anyone called for a kidnapped child at the docks.” 

“I doubt it. No one’s gonna be around at this time. Red Hood, Batgirl, are you almost there?” Dick asked. Barbra noted the rise of panic in his voice.

“Almost. Oracle, where exactly?” Red Hood answered.

Barbra checked the screen again. “Near dock 3, near a—wait their moving again!” The little blinking dot was moving closer to the water’s edge. Barbra’s eyes widened when realization dawned on her. “They moved to dock 4. His tracker is getting dangerously near the water.”

“We’re at dock 3, approaching dock 4.” Batgirl reported, “I don’t see any—“

“Batgirl over there!” Red Hood shouted. “I see him! Shit, they just threw him over!”

“No!” Robin yelled angrily through the comms. 

Barbra could feel her adrenaline rushing as the sounds of a fight came on over the lines. What the hell was going on? She couldn’t see anything except a blinking dot that was now over the water area on her map. She wished she could be out there, with them, fighting. But for now, she was stuck, waiting anxiously for answers.

She sat back, took a deep breath, and listens to the sounds of a fight and Damian’s angered breathing through the comms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts, tips, and all that jazz is welcome! Hope you liked it! Next chapter things get intense.


	6. Channeling the Inner Bat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that so far, this is my favorite chapter.

“We’re at dock 3, approaching dock 4,” Steph said as she searched for anything out of the ordinary. Aside from the sound of water and her and Red Hood’s running, there was absolute silence. The darkness and shadows made the scene even more eerie and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something horrible was about to happen. “I don’t see any—“

“Batgirl over there! I see him!” Red Hood shouted. Steph immediately turned to see a man carrying a large sack near the water, right before tossing it over the rails and into the ocean. “Shit, they just threw him over!”

“No!” Steph heard Robin say over the comms. Adrenaline and fury pumped through her body as she raced to the man, with Red Hood not too far behind her. The man had heard their shouts and was now running the other way as fast as he could. She could see the fear in his eyes, and, if she was honest with herself, it felt good to watch.

The man was fast, however, and darted into the next alleyway before they could catch up with him. No matter how enraged she was, Steph knew her priorities. “Hood, you go after the guy! I’ll get Red Robin!” She said as she took a sharp turn towards the water.

Picking up pace, Steph ran up the pier and dived into the water where Tim was tossed. The water was cold and the currents were stronger than she had anticipated. Tim wouldn’t last long in here, and even if he did, the freezing temperatures on his tiny body could be really harmful to someone so small. She swallowed the fear, quickly turned on her flashlight and began to search frantically. 

She dived deeper and deeper into the water. She didn’t care if her lungs were burning because Tim needed her now. With the currents under the surface so strong, and Tim being trapped in a sack, he could really be anywhere by now, probably drowning.

_Dang it Steph, get it together._ She told herself. She needed to stay professional. 

Then, in the side of her vision, she saw a tiny red light flash just a few feet away. _The tracker,_ she realized as she swam as fast as she could towards it. Steph pointed her flashlight at the source and found the bag, much to her relief. But they weren’t in the clear yet. She grabbed the bag and raced to the surface. She let in a huge breath upon breaking the water and lifted the bag so Tim could get some air too, but he wasn’t moving.

Actually, the bag felt really limp and weird and just wrong. _Really wrong_.

Steph tried to push down the panic that rose as she brought Tim back to the shore. She hadn’t opened the bag yet, but she couldn’t feel any movement, or even warmth for that matter. Tim felt as cold as the water.

“Come Tim. We’re almost there. Just hang on,” Steph whispered to him as she swam back to shore, worry evident in her voice. The current had carried them a little ways out, and it wasn’t exactly helping her get back to land either. It took her a few minutes to get to the pier, and by that time, Red Hood had already tied up the thug.

“Hood!” she yelled. “Hood! I don’t think he’s breathing!” She couldn’t hide the panic anymore. She didn’t want to lose Tim. She couldn’t.

"Pass him here!” Red Hood said as he bent down to help her lift Tim out of the water. Steph pulled herself up immediately and bounded towards them, heart filled with dread at the thought of what they might see when they open the bag. Tim might be a vigilante, but right now, he was just a kid. What sort of low life scum would try to drown a kid like that? More importantly, what else had they done to him?

She held her breath as she watched Jason untie the ropes. She noticed that the body in the bag hadn’t taken a single breath since they had gotten out of the water. She couldn’t help but panic a bit inside.

_Were they too late?_

Finally, Jason got the horrendous thing open and quickly removed the offense cloth. Steph gaped at the body they were looking at. Jason slammed his fist in fury. This was not going to be easy to explain to the others.

***

Dick put petal to the metal as he raced through the docks. If Alfred could see him drive this crazy, he’d probably have a heart attack. He felt bad about the hard turns he was making and how it made Damian lung to the side, sometimes hitting the door, but they were in a rush. They finally found Tim, and Dick was not going to waste a minute getting to him if he was in trouble.

“Can’t you go faster, Nightwing?!” Damian demanded from his place in the passenger’s seat. That came as a surprise to Dick. He thought he was already going pretty fast.

“We’re almost there,” Dick answered. He was really rushing now. Damian’s tension wasn’t exactly helping calm his nerves down either, but Dick guessed that was to be expected. Damian finally has a shot at being the older one, and Dick knows from experience how emotionally taxing that could be when his family was in trouble.

They made it to dock 4 with a sudden break, but that didn’t stop Robin from unbuckling and leaping out of the car even before they stopped. The car screeched t a halt and Dick followed Damian out, but Damian had stopped in the middle of his sprint.

“Robin, what’s wrong?” He was expecting to Damian to say there was assailants or some other incoming threat, but Damian just starred towards the pier in utter horror. Dick followed his gaze and gasped.

Jason and Steph were on the ground and had their backs to them, but were looming down on something. Jason seemed furious and Steph just seemed shocked, if their body language was anything to go by. Dick swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew what that meant, and by the looks of it, so did Damian. 

His face paled a bit and his fist shook in either fury or dread. It was hard to tell, but Dick couldn’t spend time trying to figure that out. Right now, Steph, Jason, and Damian needed him to be strong. He took a deep breath and walked over to Steph and Jason, bringing Damian along by the hand. Dick didn’t want to see the body. He didn’t want to see his little brother’s de-aged, dead body, but he knew he had to. There was no use trying to avoid it.

As they approached, the dead figure became clearer, even through the tears that were threatening to form. It was so tiny. The black hair was soaked wet. The arms were sprawled out. The tail looked broken. 

_Wait, was that a tail?_

Dick walked faster and properly looked at the body of his little brother, except it wasn’t his little brother at all. It was a _dog_. A stray with black hair and a tail and everything. It was dead but it definitely was not Tim.

“Somebody please tell me why we are mourning a dog,” Dick demanded. He finally got a look at Jason’s and Steph’s faces. Jason had taken his helmet off, and his expression radiated with anger. Not the vengeful-seeking-justice-for-the-dead anger like he thought it was, but more of the extremely-frustrated-and-caught-off-guard anger. Steph, rather than shocked at the death of a friend, had more of a I-can’t-believe-we-fell-for-that shocked face.

“They tricked us,” Steph replied after a few seconds of awkward silence. “They baited us with a dog in a bag and we thought it was Tim. He threw it into the water and we just acted on instinct.” She sounded like she couldn’t believe what she was saying herself. 

“How can this be? The tracking device said he was here!” Robin questioned with rage. Both Jason and Steph gave him a very annoyed looked. Then Jason picked something up from the ground.

“You mean this tracking device?” Jason mocked sarcastically as he twirled it around in his fingers, “Yeah, well, the thing about tracking devices is that once you drop it, it doesn’t track you anymore.” The frustration rose in Jason’s voice as he continued to talk. “My bet is that those sick freaks found out about it and took it from him.”

Jason glared furiously ahead of him to where a man was tied up. Dick hadn’t even realized the man was there until Jason looked at him.

“Wait, so what you’re saying is that Tim no longer has his tracking device?” Dick asked. Jason and Steph nodded sullenly while Dick drew a sharp breath. _Be calm. Be calm. Don’t panic._  

“But we do have a crucial source of information,” Damian said dangerously as he stalked up to the man that was trying to inch his way away from the group of Bats. Robin pounced on the man’s back and leaned in until a resounding crack of a rib could be heard. “Where have you taken Red Robin?”

“Robin!” Dick shouted, “enough!” But Dick knew that Damian wasn’t going to listen.

If it were even possible, Damian put even more of his weight on the man, crushing the already broken rib. “Talk. Now. Coward.” He finished his sentence with a smack to the man’s face that looked like it could’ve broken a neck if Damian had had a better angle. 

“Robin, I said enough!” Dick ordered, trying to wrestle Damian away from the man.

“He did it to Red!” Damian argued, sounding like he was on the verge of a tantrum and a panic attack at the same time. “He crushed him, then smacked him, and then tried to drown him! How can you let him go so easily?!”

Damian broke Dick’s grip and sprinted towards the man. Before Damian could even lay a hand on him, however, the man confessed, “It wasn’t me! It was one of my partners! I swear, I didn’t know what was happening until he did it! Just please stop! My rib, i-its — you broke it!”

“And that’s not the only thing that’s gonna be broken unless you tell us where your partners are taking Red Robin. So talk,” Jason commanded furiously. Dick kept an eye on Jason’s guns, just for safe measure.

The man hesitated under the simultaneous batglares of the group, each just as intense as the last, and showed no sign of wavering. Dick used the opportunity to play good cop/bad cop.

“Look friend, your partners have left you to fend on your own. There’s no way you can escape all of us. The best thing you can do is help us out, so you won’t get into anymore more trouble as you already have,” Dick explained logically. “Take a moment to think it through.” 

“Either way, we’ll get the information whether you cooperate or not,” Batgirl added candidly, refusing to lift her batglare from the man.

The man squirmed under the looks of the Bats, and winced as the movement aggravated his already abused ribs. Damian pounded his fist together, looking like he was ready to beat up the guy even if he did cooperate. The look on the man’s face was priceless. _Checkmate_ , Dick thought.

“They’re driving to the Sunrise building to use the helicopter pad,” he finally confessed and slumped in defeat.

“Why do they need Red Robin and where are they planning to take him afterwards?” Dick began his interrogation. 

“The boss wanted to test the weapon on Robin, but the older one got in the way. We were taking him back to her because we don’t know what else to do with him and we can’t go back empty-handed.”

“Who’s the boss? Why Robin? What weapon?” 

“Hey hold up a minute! You said you just wanted to know where he was going! I’m not going to give you all of that information!”

In the next second, Jason grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt, dragged him to the edge of the pier, and dangled him just above the rocky waters. “I wouldn’t want to be dropped down there if I were you,” he threatened, as the man hung onto Jason’s arm for dear life. “You were planning on hurting a kid I happen to tolerate, and now, you’ve kidnapped another one I also happen to tolerate. I _hate_ people who pick on kids. So unless you can give me a good reason not to drop you and let your sorry head hit those rocks and watch you drown, you’ll be swimming with the fish.” The fire and distain in his voice was enough to make everyone listening swallow both awe and fear. 

“Wait! Ok! Stop! I’ll talk!” the man frantically exclaimed, kicking his feet in the air as an attempt to get back on land. “The boss goes by a lot of names. I don’t actually know her! One of my partners got the job! I’ve never met her in real life! She hired a bunch of trained guys to kidnap the kid, but she didn’t say why! It was a lot of money so I didn’t ask!” 

“The weapon. What’s it for?” Nightwing interjected before they could lose momentum.

“Its supposed to de-age people! We set it to about nine or ten years back so Robin would be turned into a baby! B-but then the other guy took the hit!”

“Anything else we might find important?” 

“Th-the weapon was a prototype s-so its causes side effects.”

“Side effects?”

“Memory loss, headaches, brain damage. Memories collapsing in on memories. I don’t know! I just shoot the thing! I don’t know the specifics! That’s everything I know! I swear! Just don’t kill me!”

Nightwing and Red Hood glanced at each other, giving a satisfied yet worried face with what they had discovered.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Red Hood said as he pulled the man back onto the pier and subsequently knocked him out with a headbutt. “We’ll leave him for the police.”

“Nine years,” Dick muttered to himself in thought, “it makes sense. If Robin was de-aged nine years, he would have been a baby. Much easier to kidnap. But instead they got Red Robin, and nine years back would make him seven.”

“What about the brain damage? What are we supposed to do about that?” Batgirl questioned.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we need to get to Sunrise building before Red Robin gets taken away for good.” Dick said. One problem at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go Jason, channeling that inner Batman.
> 
> Also, remember when I said it was gonna be like 8 chapters. Now its like 10. But such is life.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Why you don't mess with the 7 year old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was around the time I threw my plot out the window and started making stuff up as I went along and hoped it was good. So yeah, I hope its good.

Tim’s head hurt. A lot.

That was the only thing he could think about. Not the fact that he was being kidnapped, not the fact that he no longer had a way of being tacked, nor the fact that he couldn’t find an escape route. All he really knew was that his head hurt.

He laid against the car door and stared out the window, trying to get as comfortable as he could while being tied and gagged. One of the men was driving in the front while the other was next to Tim, probably to watch in case the kid had anymore tricks up his sleeve. Tim really wished he had. 

It was peacefully quiet as they drove through the night. The hum of the car’s engine lulled him to sleep and away from the headache. It would have been nice too, had the pain not suddenly spiked.

In just a span of a few moments, memories upon memories flooded his vision. It hurt his head as he tried to keep up with the bombardment of images. Some he remembered, some he didn’t; a scene of him at the circus watching the Flying Graysons, another of his collection of Batman and Robin pictures, his parents leaving to go on a trip. Then memories that didn’t make sense; he looks older, but somehow Tim knows the boy in the Robin outfit is him. Batman is there too, as well as Nightwing and Oracle. Tim tries to commit the names to memory, but it feels like his thoughts are slipping. He’s forgetting things he should be remembering. Faces and people are fading. There’s a man in a biker’s jacket and red helmet (Red….something. Or was it Jay-something? He swears he knows), a girl with black hair in her own version of what looked like a Batman outfit (starts with a C…), a little boy wearing a very geared up Robin outfit (he has mixed feelings about this kid, he knows that), and a blonde haired girl wearing purple (he thinks she’s really pretty). 

Soon, even those memories become hard to access and all he can really focus on is the pain in his head and how it hurts so much that he thinks he might cry. Suddenly, he realizes that he is already crying, and screaming even. How long had he been doing that?

“Whats wrong with him?” the driver asked.

“I think his head hurts,” the other man explained as he tried to get a good look at Tim’s face, “his brain is trying to recalculate the events of his life, but it doesn’t make sense because he’s got memories from when he was older.” 

“So why is he screaming?”

“Heck if I know. It be easier if he was a baby, all the memories would’ve been wiped. But he’s a kid. This could cause some serious problems. We just need to get him to the boss before he’s got any permanent damage.”

“We aren’t that far from the pick up point. I think the Bats bought your distraction, so no need to worry about them. We’ll be outta Gotham within the next 20 minutes. Do you think he’ll survive that long?” 

“I don’t know.”

 _He didn’t know?_ That struck Tim hard. Even if he could get out of here himself (highly unlikely considering the gut wrenching headache), he might still die. The odds were not boding well for him. He couldn’t even count on rescue from his…wait who was he waiting for again? 

 _Who?_ Tim thought. He couldn’t even remember _who_ he had been waiting for. The thoughts are slipping and all he knows is that he needs to get out and away from these guys. He figures he’ll find whoever he’s supposed to be waiting for later. Right now, survival instincts kick in and tell him to lash out. 

And so he does. Somehow, while still being tied and gagged and pained with a headache, he manages to hit the guy next to him hard enough for him to slump onto the side of the car. How did he do that? How had he even enough strength to do such damage? _Muscle memory_ , it hits him, _but from where?_ Because he is very sure he doesn’t remember every doing those moves. _At least not while you were this small,_ a voice in the back of his head reminds him. But all in all, it doesn’t really matter.

“What the heck?! You’re like 7, how did— Kid sit down right now or I swear I will come back there and beat you up myself!” the man in the driver’s seat shouted. But Tim had already fished the knife from the other man’s pocket and was quickly cutting into his bonds. Tim was thoroughly surprised with how confident he was with the use of the knife. Sure, he had hit skin a few times, but his wrists were generally woundless once he got them free. 

The driver, however, only grew more furious with the sight of Tim’s hands being free. “Give me the knife!” he bellowed as he reached to the back while simultaneously trying to keep the car on the road. In fear, Tim had dropped the knife and moved as far away from the arm as he could. He undid the gag around his mouth and tried to keep his breathing even. Because, yes, Tim was very scared. The arm was getting closer and closer to the corner he was trying to stuff himself in.

The driver finally got his hand on Tim and yanked aggressively until Tim was closer to the front seats. There was really only one thing he could think of doing. He bit into the hand as hard as he could, until he could taste blood.

“Ow!” the driver let go in surprise. Then, his anger seemingly multiplied by the billions. “Alright kid you had better hope that the boss’ client doesn’t mind damaged goods because I am going to beat you to a pulp!” 

The man let go of the wheel and reached back once again to try and grab Tim. Tim evaded the hands grabbing at his neck as best he could in the small confined space. The car was swerving in several different directions because the man left the wheel, making it much harder to Tim to get his balance, especially considering his legs were still bound. 

Tim spared a glance to the front and saw that they were no longer on the road. Actually they were on the sidewalk, and actually, they were about to hit a lamppost. Tim bent down to floor for cover, and the driver had only seconds to turn around and see the lamppost before they collided. 

It was a hard hit. The front was demolished, and several pieces of glass fell on the boy. He felt a few cuts and some trickles of blood, but he didn’t think it was too bad.

It took him at least ten minutes to get the last of the bindings off with one of the broken glass shards, which was weird because he did it fairly quickly in the car just moments ago. And he did it without cutting himself (for the most part at least), one look at his ankles showed that he wasn’t as successful this time around. How could he forget so fast? For some reason, it made him feel disappointed but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint why. Either way, it would have to wait. Both men Tim had knocked out were coming to. Despite the headache, Tim ran away as fast as he could.

“Ugh…dude where’s the kid?” One of the men said as he woke and shook his partner. “Wake up idiot! Where’s the kid?!”

The other jumped to life at the realization that they had lost their package and began frantically searching the entire area. By that time, Tim had already reached the end of a nearby alleyway. He just needed to make a few turns and he’s sure he would be safe. Just a little further and…

…a dead end.

“No.” Tim cursed under his breath. The men were in the alleyway now, and sounding like they were getting closer. The fence blocking his only route out was about 10 feet tall and made of wood. There weren’t any crates or garbage cans or anything near it that was low enough for Tim to reach nor high enough to boost him over.

“Over here! I think I heard something,” one of the men shouted. They were getting really close and Tim was running out of options. Then, to his right, a perfect escape route. 

He climbed the rickety, old fire escape as high as he possibly could, putting distance between himself and the kidnappers. Even from a 5 floor distance, they still spot him.

“Up there! Up there!” They shouted from far below him, “Kid, come on down! We aren’t going to hurt you!”

 _Yeah right,_ Tim thinks, mostly because he can’t muster the words to say it anymore. He’s tired and his hands hurt from the ropes and his mouth hurts from the gag and his head hurts from the headache he apparently might die from. 

“That’s it! I’m coming up!” For a moment, Tim’s heart skips a beat because when he checks, the man is climbing, and _climbing fast._ With adrenaline and survival instincts pushing him forward, Tim looks for any way into the building, but there’s nothing except a small ledge jutting out from the wall. It was small enough to narrowly crawl on, but barely enough for the kidnappers to walk on. It was his best choice.

He takes his chances and begins to crawl onto the tight path. He should’ve checked before though, because the cement is not as sturdy as it seems. Several pieces of concrete are dislodged as he quickly makes his way to a slightly bigger ledge at the corner of the building. Its not much, and there’s a tiny gargoyle sitting there too, but its enough for Tim to sit down and try to drown everything out; the headache, the adrenaline, the fear, and the uncertainty.

He pulls his hands over his ears to block out the cursing the two kidnappers are shouting at him and prays that whoever he was waiting for is on their way already. If he falls asleep, the kidnappers could try and make a grab on him, or he’ll lose his balance and fall of the side of the building to his death, but he honestly doesn’t think he’ll last much longer. He’s tired and just wants someone to save him already. 

He closes his eyes and, despite the killer headache, tries to remember who’s name he should be calling for help. 

No one really comes to mind.

 

***

 

“Can’t we go any faster?” Damian complained in the front passenger seat. They had all gotten into the batmobile after the interrogation at the docks and drove far past the speed limits in order to get to Sunrise building before the kidnappers could get away with Tim. However, Damian was positively certain that his heart rate was going faster than the speed they were driving.

“I’m going as fast as I can Damian,” Dick answered in a calm voice, though it wasn’t fooling Damian. Anyone with the least bit of competency could see the worry etched into his face.

“Relax kid,” Jason spoke up from the back, “we are going to make it before they leave.”

“Before they leave, or before the brain damage is permanent?” Damian snapped back.

“Ok listen here—“ Jason began as he raised his voice. 

“Stop it! This is not going to help anyone! Least of all Tim. So would you just shut up!” Steph ordered. She may have been seated in the back but the authority in her voice made it feel like she should be the one at the wheel. “Sorry, I’m just a little on edge and your arguing isn’t helping.”

“You can say that again Batgirl,” Barbra commented through the batmobile’s contact. “No signs of any helicopters flying out of Gotham yet, so they’re still here. I’m keeping my eyes out for anything on the streets or in the air.”

“Thanks Babs, keep us posted,” Dick said, then turning his attention to the occupants in the car. “Listen, alright? I know we are all worried about Tim, especially after the scare at the docks, but we need to focus. That’s what’s going to help us get him back. So Jason, Damian, make up already because I, and I think I speak for Steph too, do not want to see you guys go at each other.”

Damian gave his classical Damian -tt- sound and proceeded to stare out the window. It was Jason who finally broke the silence between them. “Damian,” he said with a sigh, “I’m sorry about what I said before. It wasn’t your fault. It could’ve happened to anyone of us. You just got caught in a bad place at a bad time. I was just angry. So stop acting like this was all your fault because its seriously pissing me off. You’re starting to remind me of Bruce.”

Damian would deny it, but Todd’s apology had actually relieved some of the stress he’d been carrying the entire night. But despite the pleasantries, it was his fault that Drake was de-aged and kidnapped. Damian now knew that, if it hadn’t been for him, Drake wouldn’t even have been de-aged at all. They were aiming for him then Drake got in the way. Drake got in the way without even knowing what the weapon would do. Drake got in the way even though he could get hurt. Drake got in the way to save Damian.

And all Damian did was get him kidnapped.

“Dami, Jason just apologized. What do you say now?” Dick interrupted Damian’s spiraling thoughts.

“Your apology is worthless but accepted. I know for a fact that you could not have protected Drake on the roof top either, Todd. No need to state the obvious.” _Lies, lies, lies._ Damian knew that if it were Todd and not him on that roof top, the kidnappers would have bled a gallons worth of blood from bullet holes before they even came close to Drake. Damian was just…stressed? Was that the right word?

No wait. Grayson had told him it was worry. As in protective sibling worry. 

Damian hated it.

“Damian!”” Grayson exclaimed, “I know you aren’t in that great of a mood right now, but can you at least avoid starting more fights before you end the first one?”

“Forget it, Dick. The little Demon just doesn’t know what’s like to actually care for something besides his own inflated ego!” Jason barked in reply. Things were getting really heated. 

Damian knew that wasn’t true. He cared, and in his opinion, he cared too much; at least much more than Grandfather or Mother would have thought acceptable. _People and loyalties just get in the way,_ they had told him, _they hold you back and stop you from your true potential._ Damian knew how wrong that was now, and had been working on showing that he cared through the small things. Like not trying to kill Todd and Drake, tolerating Brown, listening to Grayson most of the time and letting him have his hugs. 

“Jason, enough!” Dick yelled at him, “You know that’s not true.”

 _But it is_ , Damian thought to himself. Whether it had been the exhaustion from following the kidnappers all night, or the mounting guilt from Drake’s predicament, Damian had decided that Todd was right. Or at least, from his standpoint he was right. Damian had never really gone out of his way to show he cared about the others. That became even more obvious when Tim had asked him on the roof if he had liked him. It didn’t matter that Tim was a child, it just made it all the more clear that Drake questioned Damian’s feelings towards him. Maybe they didn’t have the best start (that was on him, really) but Damian never wanted Tim out of his life. Not anymore at least. 

“I’ll work on it,” Damian abruptly stated. The rest of the car went silent. Damian just wanted to stop feeling for a moment. He wanted to get Drake and go home and sort out all his emotions at home where no one could force him to lay it out for the world to see. He wanted Todd to just shut up and leave him alone because he couldn’t exactly think of anything to counter with at the moment.

“Ah shit,” Jason cursed as quietly as he could (which was not very quietly) and leaned over to whisper to Steph “I think I went too far.”

Steph scoffed and replied “You think?”

“Nightwing, there’s a car crashed into a lamppost on your next turn. It looks like it was heading to Sunrise building. I think it might be Tim.” Oracle said, thankfully breaking the awkwardness in the vehicle.

“On it Oracle,” Nightwing replied, eager to get back to finding Tim.

One turn later, and the street had exactly what Oracle said it had, a car crashed into a lamppost. 

“That’s the car Tim was in when they shot rocket launchers at us!” Steph said as the batmobile came to a quick stop.

“Search for any sign of life and be on the look for ambush,” Dick ordered as they all got out of the car and headed over to the crash. There was a very large, very (not physically, maybe emotionally?) painful pit that was forming in Damian’s stomach. The crash looked very bad.

There was shattered glass everywhere. It was a head on collision. The front was completely wrecked, and, while the sides of the car didn’t take a direct hit, they weren’t doing so well either. There was gas leaking form the bottom and the smell of smoke in the air. The doors, however, were open, which signified that someone had probably exited the vehicles.

“Nightwing,” Robin called from his place on the ground inspecting the glass shards. “There’s blood on these.” He held it up to show Nightwing and noticed how he couldn’t even hold the darn thing steady.

“Well, there’s no one in here. They probably crashed and ditched. At least it’ll be easier to catch up with them on foot.” Jason added.

Then suddenly, a large array of curses from down the alleyway caught the vigilante team’s attention.

“Tim,” Damian gasped under his breath and sprinted towards the commotion. The others followed in suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to thephilosophersapprentice for giving me the biting idea! I thought that was super cute!
> 
> Hope you guys liked it! (also hoping this doesn't blow up in my face because I threw my plot out the window)


	8. Crash Course

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I finally understand what writer's block is now. I didn't even read this through so if there are any corrections please tell me!

Damian and the others ran through the maze of alleyways until, finally, they found were the shouts were coming from. There was one man on an old fire escape, seemingly cursing at a gargoyle on the nearby ledge, and another man trying to carefully make his way towards said gargoyle. However, upon further inspection, Damian noticed the small body curling into himself right next to the statue. 

“Nightwing look!” Robin shouted, pointing towards Tim sitting on the ledge of the building. He was nearly five stories up. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Batgirl yelled at the men as she sprinted into action. She grabbed her grappling hook and shot it right next to the man on the fire escape, then accelerated upwards. The others followed her lead.

Soon, all of them were on the landing trying to get the kidnappers as far away from the ledge and Tim as possible. In a few quick moves, both perpetrators were tied and hung by the feet over the end of the fire escape. Nothing too brutal, just some classic revenge/justice, Batman style.

“I’ll go get Tim to come out. Robin, Batgirl, you guys go wait on the bottom in case he slips. Hood, just help me get there.” Dick commanded as the others began to move.

Damian had actually wanted to be up there with Grayson getting Tim, but he did as he was told. Better safe than sorry. He got to the ground with Batgirl and watched as Nightwing slowly inched his way onto the narrow ledge, as close to Tim as he could get. There was nothing to hook on grapple too, nor anything to climb to get to where Tim was. The only way there was through the incredibly narrow ledge that even Grayson was having a hard time balancing on.

“Tim,” he gently cooed at the child, “Timmy, its ok. The bad guys are gone now, but I need you to do a favor for me buddy. I can’t get any further because the rest of the ledge on this end is too small for me to get across. I need you to move a little closer to me. Then I can get you back to the ground, okay? Can you do that for me?” Dick gave an earnest smile and held out his hands. 

From Damian’s spot on the ground, he could see the child slowly uncurling himself. He removed the hands from his ears and opened his eyes just slightly. It looked like he was hurting, crying even. That made Damian’s (what did Grayson call it again?) protective sibling-ness peak. But the next thing Tim did was even more worrisome. 

Tim looked up and caught sight of Nightwing, however, instead of relief at being rescued, his eyes only reflected more panic. Instead of moving toward Dick, Tim started moving farther _away_. _And closer to the edge._

The move, though slight, was still enough unnerve the rest of the heroes. Tim was literally sitting on the edge of a very small, very fragile ledge. Damian tried to even his breathe and calm his heart rate, but nothing was working. He was r _ight on the edge._ A nudge from Brown snapped Damian back into reality. 

“Get ready to catch him,” she said. The two moved closer to the place where Tim might fall, only to realize that Tim was right on top of discarded bricks, pieces of concrete, and broken construction material. “Why can’t Gothamites ever clean up after themselves?” Steph asked more angrily than sarcastically.

“Looks like they were planning on tearing this place down but broke their tools,” Damian added, “If Tim falls here, it will be very hard to catch him.” 

Steph hummed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll tell Nightwing.” She seemed to b trying to keep her calm, but the worry in her voice was hard to miss. 

Damian stared at the huge pile and cursed the lack of responsibility that seemed to be a characteristic of all Gothamites. How hard was it to properly put away tools and bricks and concrete? If Tim falls, Damian is going to have a very long, very painful talk to Gotham’s demolition companies.

***

“Nightwing,” Steph called through the comms. “We have a very big problem.” 

Dick was still trying to find his balance on the ledge. It was very narrow and Tim moving farther away from him only complicated things more. “What is it Batgirl?” 

“He’s right on top of a huge pile of bricks and pieces of concrete. If he falls, there is a very small chance we can get to him before he hits it. Its really high and there’s nowhere to grapple onto from that side of the building. We can’t climb it either. The ground keeps giving way.”

“How high is it?” Dick asked, already trying to plan his next move.

“Taller than me and Damian combined,” Steph answered.

“Oh, so not that tall,” Jason chimed in. Dick looked back at his brother and frowned, while Jason returned it with a teasing smirk. Leave it to Jason to make fun of other people’s height during a life or death situation.

Dick rolled his eyes and got back to problem at hand. “Okay Batgirl, just stand by just in case. I’ll get him from up here.”

“Careful Nightwing, he’s already on the edge.” Steph said.

Nightwing looked back up at Tim, who had once again curled in on himself. He tried to reach Tim again. “Timmy, buddy, its me. Remember? Its Dick.”

Tim didn’t even open his eyes this time, instead shutting them harder and shaking his head. _He doesn’t remember?_ Dick thought to himself, then thought back to what the man had said at the docks.

_“Memory loss, headaches, brain damage. Memories collapsing in on memories.”_

They were running out of time. If Tim didn’t even remember who he was, then Dick surmised that the whole memory loss was already in effect, and with that, the brain damage. He tried a different approach.

“That’s okay,” Dick said as calmly and as friendly as possible. “I’m actually a superhero. My code name is Nightwing. I protect Bludhaven and Gotham. Do you like superheroes Tim?” Dick knew that even when Tim was a kid, he had always been fascinated with the hero world. He figured that he at least needed Tim’s attention and trust before he asked Tim to come closer again.

“No you don’t.” Tim replied curtly, and eyed Dick with mistrust and disbelief. 

“No I don’t, what?”

“You don’t protect Gotham. Batman and Robin protect Gotham,” he answered.

 _Bingo_. Tim might not remember Nightwing, but he does remember _Robin_.

“Right, right,” Dick continued. “Do you like Robin?”

Tim looked up at Dick and opened up a little more. He nodded, “He’s one of my favorites.”

 _Please let this work._ “Really? Do you want to meet him? I actually know Robin personally.” _Come on, come on, come on._

“I already met him.”

 _Darn it._ “You did, huh? When?”

“We went roof hopping.” Tim was slowly lowering his guard. It was an improvement from their previous situation, but it still wasn’t enough to get Tim to move. Not just yet, anyway.

“I have an idea Tim,” Dick said softly, “Since you and Robin already know each other, how about I get him to help you down? Would you like that?”

Tim glanced at Dick again and nodded. After making Tim promise not to move, Dick went back to the fire escape and contacted Damian through the comms. 

“Lil D, remember when you said you don’t know how to handle kids? Yeah, get ready for a crash course lesson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will probably take longer BUT I WILL NOT GIVE UP EVER. 
> 
> I AIN'T NO QUITTER
> 
> Also thank you to all those people who stick with me through this whole fic, ya'll are the best.


	9. On the Ledge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, just a warning, I tried. I'm not really happy with this chapter and I think its kinda too off character at some parts. But I really just wanted to finish this story.
> 
> Also, I did not read this through so if there are any mistakes please tell me.

“Ok Robin, just remember you have to coax him out by being nice and open and someone he would come to and meet. Be like, um,” Dick paused to think of an ample role model. 

“Like you back when you were Robin,” Jason interrupted bitterly.

Dick rolled his eyes and gave Jason a pained look. “Yeah, sure” he said exasperated, “Just, be a hero that a kid would want to meet.”

Damian nodded. If it were up to him, he would have had Grayson dawn the Robin outfit again to get Tim out, but unfortunately, there was no Robin outfit Grayson’s size anymore, and they were also on a time limit. Drake had been a child for a while now, and the possibility of permanent damage was becoming more real with every passing second. 

“I still do not see why you could not do this Nightwing,” Damian replied.

“Because Tim doesn’t know who Nightwing, or Red Hood, or possibly even Batgirl is. The only one we’re sure he knows of is Robin. So you’re our safest bet.” Dick answered firmly. He wasn’t changing his mind about this anytime soon.

“Don’t worry Robin. The replacement has always been a nerd when it comes to superheroes. He’ll see you and freak out,” Jason said, then retracted his statement, “In a good way! He’ll freak out in a good way. Like he’ll freak out and then want to come see you.” He rapidly supplied in an attempt to save himself. Nightwing face palmed.

But by the look on Damian’s face, he wasn’t very encouraged. Drake and him were not the closest of people, and Damian was worried that it might effect Tim’s reaction to him. That, and the fact that Damian was not a people person (much less a child person) did not do well in increasing his confidence.

But they were running out of time and he needed to redeem himself from the rooftop. One of their own was in trouble, and that was really all the motivation he needed.

“I’ll do my best.”

“That’s the spirit Robin,” Nightwing smiled. “Hood is going to go down to help Batgirl try and get over the rubble. I’ll be right here.” Jason patted Robin’s shoulder and headed down the fire escape. 

With a deep breath, Damian readied himself for his mission. He climbed over the railings and on to the ledge on the side of the building. As he analyzed his pathway, he noticed the pieces of cement missing from the ledge. It looked as if it had just cracked off from weight. He kept that in mind as he inched closer to Tim corner ledge.

Once he came to a point he could no longer cross safely, he stopped and looked back at Dick, who gave an enthusiastic thumbs up. 

He could do this. 

Damian looked back at the corner, and there, between a tiny gargoyle statue, the wall of the building, and the 5 story drop was Tim, curled into himself. His knees were up to his chest and his hands were on his head as he tried to block out both sound and light.

“Dra—Tim.” Damian tried getting his attention, “Tim, look up.”

The seven year old turn his head just slightly in order to see the vigilante on the ledge. His eyes lit up with wonder and his hands dropped just a few centimeters away from his head. He did not say a word. 

“Hi Tim. I am Robin, Batman’s partner. I heard you were a big fan,” Damian couldn’t help the monotone voice. He practiced the line with Nightwing before he left the fire escape and that was honestly the best he could do. Tim only eyed him with caution and skepticism. This was not working.

“You are very far from the ground,” Damian continued.

Tim nodded “yes”.

“A child should not be so high up.” 

Tim nodded again.

“Would you like me to bring you down?” 

Tim nodded “no”. 

_Damn it, there goes the plan._

“Why not?” Damian asked, hoping his annoyance wasn’t picked up by the child.

But Tim flinched a bit and curled into himself a little more, choosing to look anywhere but at Damian and leaned farther away.

“No, look at me,” Robin demanded. It had already been proven twice that Nightwing’s way did not work. Now, it was about time to try Robin’s way. “Tim.” He said sternly.

By either sheer luck or Tim’s fear of authority, Tim shot his head up and looked at Damian. He looked exhausted, but guarded, which is understandable. He’s had a long night. They all have.

“Why do you not want me to bring you down?” Damian asked. There was force in his question, much more than Dick would approve of when talking to a child, but Damian needed to know. He needed to get Tim out of there.

“Robin,” Nightwing reprimanded. The others were probably only keeping quiet because Dick asked them to.

Tim stayed silent like he didn’t know how to answer. That frustrated Damian. “Why?” He demanded again.

“ _Robin calm down_ ,” Nightwing interrupted through the comms, but Damian ignored him. 

Tim suddenly blushed and gave Damian an angered look. “Because you hate me.”

 _There it was._ The answer Damian both feared and expected.

“No. I do not,” Damian countered as he glared back into Tim’s stare.

“Yes you do,” Tim bit back angrily, “You tried to kill me.”

He would never admit it, but it hurt to hear Tim say that. Firstly, that had happened a long time ago and the two of them had already worked passed that. Secondly, it made Damian feel even worse when it was coming from someone so young.

 _Calm down, don’t take the bait._ He reminded himself. It really wasn’t Tim’s fault, he couldn’t remember much. As much as he wanted to say something mean back, he knew that would only makes things worse for everyone.

“You remember that?” he asked, trying a different approach. “What else do you remember?”

“I dunno!” Tim shouted. He squeezed his eyes tighter and seemed to be in pain. “I don’t wanna think. My head hurts and I can’t remember stuff and I-I-I” Tim started stuttering, and, were those tears? 

“Tim,” Robin said in an attempt to get the child’s attention back. He might not be that great with kids, but he knows fear when he sees it. Fear only made things worse. “Tim, I can fix it. I can make it stop hurting.”

“No you can’t!” Tim was angry. He wasn’t going into a tantrum, but he was furious. “You can’t help! You only make it hurt more!” 

“What are you _talking_ about? How do you know I make it hurt more if you can’t even remember who I am?” Damian was frustrated now too.

“You’re Damian! You hate me! You tried to kill me when we first met! You always say mean things to me and push me around and threaten me! You tell me that no one needs me! You only make it hurt more!” Tim yelled as he tried even harder to block out the world.

It dawned on Damian that Tim wasn’t talking about the headache. He was talking about them, their relationship. Damian didn’t mean—he never meant that—he…he never meant to make Drake feel that way. 

Damian drew his attention away from Tim and to the comm in his ear. “Nightwing,” he whispered so Tim couldn’t hear him. 

“What are you doing?!” Jason answered instead. “You’re scaring him!”

“Have to agree Robin,” Steph added gently but slightly annoyed, “Maybe try not yelling.”

“I’m turning off my comm.”

“What?! Robin wai—“ Before Dick could finish, Damian had already turned off his comm and pulled it out. He didn’t need the others to distract him or hear what he was about to say. Heck, he didn’t even want Tim to hear. He was hoping that, when Tim got back to normal, he wouldn’t remember anything of what he was about to say.

“Tim,” Damian started, swallowing his pride. Tim didn’t make any signs that he had even heard him but Damian had to keep going. “Remember when we were on the roof? You asked me if I wanted you around and I said yes? I meant it.” He paused hoping that would be enough to convince Tim he didn’t hate him, but Tim barely responded besides a small glare.

But at least he got something. 

“Okay. I am just going to keep talking. Respond if you wish to know more about what I am going to say.” Damian took a second to rethink his plan. The others would not approve of it… no, it was a good plan. At least he hoped it was. “Tim, the others do not want me to tell you this because they think it will scare you but you are actually a 16 year old crime fighter much like myself, the others, and Batman. Earlier tonight we were fighting an unknown group who shot you with a device which de-aged you to a child. Then, you were kidnapped by the group. We have been looking for you all night. We nearly thought you were dead. The reason why you can’t remember anything is because the device did something that made you forget and we need to fix you as soon as possible or all that could be permanent.” 

Back on the roof, Tim had wanted the truth. So Damian thought it was best to give him the truth. If Damian wanted to earn someone’s trust, the other person had to know that he was a trustworthy character. Grayson had taught him that. The only real way to show Tim that was by giving the full truth.

Tim looked up at Damian wide-eyed. It was hard to tell what that meant. Astonishment? Realization? Awe?

“Are you crazy?!” Tim shouted at Damian.

Ah, it meant shock and utter disbelief.

_Damn it Grayson._

“Get away from me! I might know you but I am obviously not 16 years old and I don’t fight crime!” Tim yelled as he scooted towards the end of the ledge. One of his legs were already dangling off the edge.

“Tim! Stop! Where are you going to go? Down there? You will never survive a fall from that height! I demand you come with me right now!” Damian was putting his foot down. He was tired and cranky and had pulled all the tricks in his book.

“All of you are crazy! I don’t like you! Or the other guy! Or the guy that slapped me! Or-or anybody!” Tim was becoming frantic. His breathing was quickening, his body was shaking, and his eyes were closed shut as if to drown out the world and his own headache. “I wanna…I wanna go…” Tim whispered.

“Want to go where, Tim?” Damian questioned gently, trying not to do anymore damage than he had already done. 

But Tim couldn’t complete the sentence. He didn’t know were home was, or if he even had one. Damian knew that.

“Tim, where do you want to go?”

“I don’t…I…” Tim hesitated. He looked up into the night sky as if it had held the answers. But for a child, there was really only one answer they he had on mind. “Home. I want to go home.”

“Your home is with us.”

“You’ve told me otherwise,” Tim retorted, leveling a cold glare in Damian’s direction. 

“I know, but I didn’t mean it,” Damian said. He figured that Tim was already as spooked as it was, so diffusing the situation was his best bet. His pride was taking a lot of hits tonight. “I’m sorry.”

Tim calmed down minutely, but didn’t dare move closer to Damian. He was still scared, and, generally distrustful of Damian because of their past.

Damian knew that there was only one way to fix this. It was about time to give Tim what he had wanted from the very beginning.

_The truth._

“I am well aware of the fact that you do not trust me, and you have every reason to so. I…I haven’t been a good brother.” He paused to organize his thoughts. “I say mean things and threaten you all the time. I know you think that I hate you...but…but I—“

He hesitated again and checked if Tim was even listening. The child had actually relaxed greatly. His breathing was even, his eyes were fixed on Damian, and he was even leaning closer to hear what he had to say. That was enough to give Damian the courage he needed to finish. 

“I don’t hate you Tim. Whether you believe me or not, you are a crime fighter. You were Robin. I read your files, and all the cases you did for Father, and…. and I get jealous. You exceeded expectations, you had the loyalty of your Titans team, and you earned your place beside Father. I can’t do a lot of the things you can do, I can’t lead a team as well as you, or solve a case as fast as you do, but that is no excuse to treat you so poorly. You are… a more than capable vigilante, and you deserve a better brother. I…I am sorry, for everything. Please give me the chance to fix it. Our family needs you.”

That was it. Damian just opened up all the anger, jealously, and insecurities for the world to see. He had nothing else to give. If this didn’t work, he didn’t think anything else would.

But in truth, Damian had been jealous ever since day one. He grew up with Grandfather believing that Tim Drake was what stood between him and Father. Even after he had realized the League’s fallibility, the insecurity never went away. Working with Drake and seeing what a good person he was, how capable he was, made Damian feel even more inferior and useless. But he can’t be useless, he can’t show weakness. So instead, he showed anger and jealousy. But beneath all the cruel words and insults, was Damian had only ever really wanted Drake’s approval. Drake was the previous Robin, and just as himself, a great ally and brother. It was hard for Damian to live in that shadow alongside those of his mother, father, and grandfather.

Tim took a minute to process what Damian had said. It was a lot to take in. He looked to the sky, then to his feet, as if trying to find an answer. He looked confused, but also, relieved. It was like being completely terrified, but knowing things were going to be okay.

“Even you?” Tim whispered quietly. It was a miracle Damian even heard him.

“What?”

“You said our family needs me. But do you? Do you…need me?” 

“My answer now is the same from my answer on the rooftop,” Damian replied with confidence and a matter-of-fact. “Of course Tim. My life would not be the same without you.” 

Tim smiled and for the first time that night Damian felt that things were really going to be fine. They would fix this and everything would go back to normal. Actually, for the first time in his life, Damian felt like he had made a connection with Tim, something he had grown to want after living with the family for so long.

“I want to go down now,” Tim said and moved towards Damian. Damian inched closer to the end of the ledge, mindful of the gaps and cracks were the concrete had given way. He held out his hands and grabbed Tim, then carried him back to the fire escape where Nightwing was waiting. 

“Good job Robin,” Dick said as he held out his arms, “I can carry him now if you want.”

Damian felt Tim squeeze him tighter, an obvious sign that he didn’t want to be held by Nightwing. If he was honest, Damian didn’t really want to let go either. “No thank you, Nightwing. I am perfectly capable.”

Dick gave him a light hearted huff and started to walk down the fire escape. Damian followed. Brown and Todd were already waiting for them at the Batmobile with the de-aging device and a cellphone in hand.

“What are those?” Damian asked.

“Evidence,” Jason held up the cellphone, “And the de-aging device. It might be useful for fixing Tim.”

“Where’s the phone from?” Dick questioned as he opened the door to the Batmobile.

“One of the guys we who kidnapped Tim. We checked them for evidence while waiting for you guys. We took his phone and then made him tell us where the device was.” Steph supplied and hoped into the backseat, “We already called the cops for them so they won’t be there for long.”

“Good work,” Dick replied. “We can examine the device and phone when we get to the cave. I could probably call the Justice League too in case we need their help fixing Tim.”

Everyone was in the car already except for Damian and Tim. Jason and Steph sat in the backseat, leaving Damian the front or the seat between the two of them.

“Here Robin, I can take Tim,” Steph offered excitedly. She really wanted to play with a tiny Tim.

“No need Batgirl. Perhaps you or Red Hood would be more comfortable in the front seat.” Damian replied.

The other’s paused and gave Damian a wide eyed expression. Damian had never offered his chance at the front seat to anyone before without being forced to by Dick, Alfred, or Bruce. It was strange, but Damian had perfectly good explanation for it. Tim did not know the others at the moment, so it was best he stay with the hero he knew; Robin.

It was definitely that, not the fact that Damian was getting attached or that Tim had fallen asleep and Damian didn’t want to give up his right to hold him.

“Sure Robin, you go on ahead in the back,” Nightwing answered with a huge smile, obviously thrilled that the two youngest were getting along. “Hood move.”

“Why do I have to mo— Ow!” Jason tried to say before being punched in the arm by Dick.

In a rushed whisper, Dick answered “Because they are finally getting along don’t ruin this for all of us.” 

Steph gave a sarcastic smile and waved bye as Jason moved to the front.

“Thank you Hood,” Damian said as he passed him by. Let it not be said that Damian was not polite.

“Did you just say thank you?” Jason paused trying to process. “Did he just say thank you?”

Damian decided not to answer as settled into the back seat with Tim on his lap. The boy was already asleep but still clinging tight to his neck.

The night might not have started out great for Damian, but it seemed to be ending relatively fine. Of course, they still had to fix Tim and worry about the damage this entire ordeal has done to him, but they would figure it out. All he really wanted to do now was focus on the tiny child cradled in his lap.

 For the first time in his life, Damian thought Grayson might be on to something with the whole “big-brother” thing he had going for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done! I already finished everything so I"ll update soon (hopefully, my connection is off and on so who knows?). I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this chapter so your comments, suggestions, and/or constructive criticism would definitely be helpful.
> 
> And thanks to all of you who are still following this story! It means a lot.


	10. Fluff and Stuff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, to be honest, I'm not so sure how well I ended this, but at least I ended it. Also, I did not read this through so I am sorry for any grammar or spelling errors (please tell me if you see any).
> 
> I hope you guys like it! After this its just the epilogue. 
> 
> Also, comment if you know the movie reference. I'll put the answer on the last chapter.

**Two Days Later**

Dick was sitting at the kitchen counter eating his third bowl of cereal and enjoying his first relaxing moment in the last three days. The last few days had been rough. He had been having calls with various magic users and robotics specialist from his hero contacts to see if any of them could fix Tim. They had the de-aging device, but reverse engineering it had posed a challenge. While the general concept of the machine was understandable, there were still a lot of pieces of the puzzle that didn’t quite fit together. It was a prototype after all, so there were a lot of things that were questionable when it came to the machine.

Luckily for them, however, a quick visit from Zatanna was all they needed to fix Tim. While Tim might not have been de-aged with the use of magic (that part was still unclear), Zatanna had told them that one of her spells would bring him back to normal without any permanent damage. It would just take a few days. So that was one problem out of the way.

But there were many more problems to deal with. For instance, he still had no clue who was behind the attack in the first place. While they caught the goons who had jumped Tim and Damian, they had no information on who or where their boss was. Jason had already scanned the phone he took for any leads, but there was nothing. 

All the information the phone gave them was that Damian, who was the original target of this operation, was supposed to be de-aged and given to Talia so she could raise him from scratch and away from Bruce and the rest of the family’s influence. Even the thought of that made Dick’s skin crawl. If they had succeeded, Damian would have had to grow up again, with Talia, but with no memory of Bruce or Dick or any of the others. They would have been erased from his life. It really shouldn’t have surprised Dick though, Talia had been after Damian for quite some time, so it wasn’t a such a far fetched idea that she would try to de-age Damian to get what she wanted.

But they hadn’t hit Damian, they had hit Tim. It was obviously a mistake made by the kidnappers. Tim had jumped in between Damian and the device so the younger boy would not get hurt. It was a very “Tim” thing to do. After scanning through the more recent conversation of that night, they discovered that Ra’s al Ghul had offered to take the young Tim off their hands and would pay quite a hefty price to get him. That didn’t really didn’t surprise Dick. Ra’s had been unhealthily obsessed with his little brother and him becoming part of the League of Shadows, so much so that Dick purposefully kept anything Ra’s related out of Tim’s reach. The less interactions they had the better. After they had discovered that it was Ra’s they were planning on delivering Tim to, Dick wanted to throw up. The image of Ra’s al Ghul raising Tim was not something he had ever wanted to imagine.

However, that was still not the biggest problem. All this information they had about Talia and Ra’s wanting to de-age Damian and Tim had been received through a middleman. While the goons knew who they were getting the children for, they weren’t following the orders from Talia or Ra’s, but rather, the middleman they simply called “boss.” This Boss had been making deals with Talia about how much she would pay to get Damian de-aged and delivered. Then, when the goons had hit Tim instead, had made a deal with Ra’s so that the operation was still profitable.

It seemed to be some kind of business they were trying to start. “Boss’ De-age and Delivery.” If Dick made an educated guess, he’d say that this new business was going to be targeting all of hero community and made a mental note to warn the Justice League about it. The kidnappers had said the device was still a prototype so they probably had time before Boss made another move. But aside from that, Dick really had no other leads on this new villain. That was just another problem he would have to deal with in the future.

The only upside to this entire situation was the fact that Damian and Tim were getting along really well. Since Alfred and Bruce were out of the country, someone had to take care of Tim while they waited for Zatanna’s spell to kick in. Dick had his job, Steph and Babs had lives outside the Manor to attend to, and Damian had school, which left Jason. However, Tim wasn’t reacting well to anyone except Damian, which was to be expected since he was the only one Tim had any trust in. Tim had shied away every time one of them attempted to get close or talk to him. He immediately looked for Damian whenever he felt uncomfortable with a situation. As much as it pained Dick to be rejected like that, he couldn’t deny that it made sense for Tim to look for Damian. Damian was Robin after all, and at this age, Dick knew that Tim was obsessed over Batman and Robin. Dick was just glad that Tim felt comfortable around one of them, even if it wasn’t him.

And perhaps, he was just a tad bit jealous.

Dick had let Damian skip a few days of school just to keep Tim company. Jason was there too, because Dick was a responsible adult and would never leave children alone by themselves, even though Damian protested that he was capable enough to take care of both Tim and himself. Jason seemed to enjoy it though, being asked to take care of his little brothers. No matter how much he complained about it, Dick could see that it was just a face and Jason liked being part of the family.

To his surprise, Damian seemed to be enjoying his older brother responsibilities as well. There had been several times where he had found Damian teaching Tim about swords, or animals, or drawing, or anything he really wanted, and Tim seemed really interested. He asked questions and they played around, Tim’s forever fascinated eyes darting around each new room Damian introduced. It was nice to see Damian so invested in anything family related rather than crime related.

He recorded them playing Batman and Robin. Damian was Batman and Tim was Robin. Damian called it “training.” It was really cute until Damian caught him and he almost got punched in the face before scrambling out of the room

Jason had even told him about eavesdropping on one of their conversations. Something about Damian having a little story time and telling Tim stories about Batman cases and how good of a hero Red Robin was, and how he was very grateful that Tim would not remember him saying these things when he got back to normal. 

It was funny, Dick thought. Damian finally got to be the older one, and it seemed like he actually enjoyed it. Dick swore Damian looked disappointed when Zatanna had told them Tim would only be that young for a few more days. Dick just hoped that, when things did get back to normal, Damian’s pleasantries towards Tim wouldn’t end. He was clinging on to the idea that this little incident would act as some kind of deep bonding moment between the two. But hoping and actually happening were two very different things.

Dick cleaned up his breakfast and washed his dishes at the sink. Today, Bruce and Alfred were coming back to the Manor. Bruce wanted to come as soon as he heard there, but Dick had assured him he had everything under control. Still, Bruce decided to end the business trip three days earlier just to be back.

Dick was just going to pretend he believed it was because Bruce was worried and not because he just wanted to spend time with a tiny Tim.

The signature sound of an engine coming up the drive way alerted Dick to their presence. Alfred parked right outside the front door and he and Bruce got out and picked up their bags. Dick opened the door and greeted them.

“Three days early, huh?” Dick teased.

“The extra three days were just for formalities. Things were already finished when I left,” Bruce tried to brush it off.

“Sure,” the devious smile on Dick’s face made it obvious that he didn’t believe a word of it. “He’s in the backyard with Damian and Jason. Steph is coming over later too. Zatanna said he won’t be like that for much longer. Maybe a day left.”

“Perhaps I should hurry with the camera then?” Alfred raised an eyebrow at Bruce. Bruce grunted in reply, which basically meant yes if he was talking to Alfred.

Dick laughed. Of course Bruce would want pictures. He’ll probably ask Alfred to put it in the family album. 

After setting their bags down, the Bruce and Dick made their way to the backyard while Alfred prepared lemonade in the kitchen. Jason, Damian, and a younger Tim idly using the swimming pool. Jason was reading on one of the pool chairs while Tim and Damian swam. Tim was wearing a small Batman floaty Damian had bought him the other day. Dick had been against it since Tim was only going to be a child for a few days, but Damian had been very insistent. Dick just hoped Bruce wouldn’t be mad about all the kid’s stuff they’d bought for Tim over the last few days. It was becoming needlessly much.

“Damian,” Tim grabbed Damian’s arm to get his attention. “Is that Bruce?” Bruce and Dick were just heading to the pool.

“Yes that is Father,” Damian replied and smiled, then corrected himself. “That is _our_ father.”

Tim’s eyes widened in amazement, “He’s my dad too?”

“Yes Tim,” Damian huffed fondly, “You are part of the family. Don’t ever forget that.”

Tim seemed confused. Damian was sure he went over this with Tim several times. The child had a lot of insecurities when it came to being part of the family. It was obvious in the way he acted around the others, or tended to stay behind when everyone else was doing something fun. Damian had tried to squash those worries in the span of only a few days, but so far, it seemed like they were still popping up.

“Something wrong?” Damian asked. He was already formulating a speech about why Tim shouldn’t feel insecure about his place in the family. 

“Its nothing,” the child replied. “Its just that…he looks a lot older than I remember.”

Damian gave a devious smile. Never once did Damian ever think his Father looked old, but hearing Tim say it was…enlightening, if that’s the right word. 

Bruce came to the edge of the pool and crouched down right in front of Tim. “Hello Tim, do you remember me?”

Tim nodded both nervously and excitedly. Damian had been telling him about all the adventures Batman had gone on, so he was sure Tim was very star-struck right now.

“That’s good,” Bruce answered gently, “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

“After you swim, would you like to go watch a movie and eat ice cream with me?” Bruce asked.

Damian felt a twinge of betrayal towards his father. Father was trying to spend time with Tim, which meant he was also _stealing_ time from Damian. That wasn’t fair. Father wasn’t there when Tim was turned into a child. Father wasn’t the one who got Tim off the ledge. Father wasn’t the one who had been taking care of Tim the last few days. That was all Damian. Now that they only had a day left with the young child, Father wanted use all the remaining hours to himself. Damian had done his best to keep the others from hogging Tim’s time, but this was Father.

Before Damian could voice his complaint however, Tim spoke up and said “Can Damian come with us?”

“Of course he can,” Bruce smiled and glanced at Damian who blushed just slightly. “When things get back to normal, I hope you two can still get along.”

Tim smiled at Damian. Damian simply gave a “-tt-“ in reply.

While Damian knew he would miss the tinier Tim Drake, getting the older Tim Drake back wouldn’t be such a bad thing either. Part of Damian hoped Tim would remember what happened and that they could have a better relationship. The other part of him was praying that Tim wouldn’t remember anything he’d said lest his pride would be shattered. Nevertheless, Damian was just glad to have his brother alive and home.

.

.

.

.

As Bruce took Damian and Tim back to the house after swimming, Jason grabbed Dick’s arm and pulled him back outside.

“Something wrong Jaybird?” Dick questioned. 

“Remember how we were having trouble finding out who was running ‘De-age and Deliver’? Babs and I may have found a lead.” Jason replied. 

“That’s great, I’ll tell the others—“ 

“No wait,” Jason interrupted, “let them have their day. One day without worrying about the villains and just playing with the kid while he’s still a kid.”

Dick nodded in agreement. “Sure Jay, but then we get back on it when Tim’s better. You got a name or anything?”

“You’re not going to believe this, but remember that movie, about the superheroes who go to a superhero highschool? Remember the villain’s name?” 

“Royal Pain?”

“Yeah. That.”

 

To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada...? So thats how that ends. Just the epilogue left for this story. Its really just a bonus scene. I'm making a part 2 for this. This entire thing was really supposed to be a two part, but part two is going to be way more fun. I hope. I've already got a name and everything: "Honey, I De-aged the kids." (Spoiler: It'll have Duke, Cass, and the rest of the Batfam)
> 
> Hope you guys liked this chapter. Tips, constructive criticism, or any other comment you want to say is welcome. Thanks!


	11. Where do babies come from?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter and I think its cute. I hope you all like it too!
> 
> The answer to the movie reference was SkyHigh. Its also in the tags if you didn't see it!
> 
> Enjoy!

**A few days later**

Tim strode through the hallways in the early hours of the morning. He hadn’t been allowed to go on patrol for the last few nights because Bruce wanted to monitor him for any unforeseen injury or damage he might’ve gained from the entire incident. 

Honestly, he didn’t remember most of it. Just some glimpses here and there. He remembered taking the shot for Damian, and then after that it gets all fuzzy. He remembered being carried by Damian, and being crushed on the ground, and crying from the top of something really tall, but besides that, everything is a blur.

The only evidence he finds of all this actually happening and not just some sick joke that Jason’s trying to play on him is the vast amount of photos of his seven year old self his family has seemed to obtain.

He saw Steph’s first. She was gushing over them. Tim wanted them back but she refused and said they were for Cass. He didn’t want to be in trouble with Cass, so he let it slide. 

Dick unsurprisingly had a lot in his phone. There were a lot of him and Damian together (he doesn’t remember playing Batman and Robin), but he decides to download the files and take them out of Dick’s phone just for so the older couldn’t use it as blackmail. He does the same to Jason’s. 

He doesn’t dare touch Bruce or Alfred’s collection because he knows how much those two loved family photo albums, even if Bruce was slow to admit it. He knew those photos probably meant a lot to them even if they were really embarrassing.

That just left Damian’s phone to search. Tim was sure the kid had something. It was perfect for blackmail when he wanted Tim to do something for him or just wanted to tease him. Tim was not going to let that happen. 

It had been a really strange few days though. Damian had been noticeably nicer. He had toned down the threats and name-calling for starters. He had even taken the time to sit down and have a conversation. It wasn’t a normal conversation by far, but it wasn’t a violent one either.

Damian had sat down one next to Tim one afternoon and out of nowhere said “You are a capable crime fighter, Drake. And a good brother. I hope you know that your contributions do not go unnoticed by me or the rest of the family.” 

It was so sudden that all Tim could muster in reply was a very awkward “Um…thank you?” Not that it really mattered anyway. Damian had already walked out by the time the words left his mouth. 

It was because of that that Tim felt both guilty and interested to find out what Damian had from the incident. There must be a reason Damian would tell him such things and he needed to know why. 

And maybe, just maybe, Tim really wanted to remember the reason he felt so close to Damian all of a sudden. Not that he was complaining. It was actually very nice. He just wanted to know why. 

Damian was still out on patrol with the others, so Tim had time to sneak into his room and hack his phone. It was a simple process really. He had it open in less than a minute. When he got to the pictures, however, he had to take a moment to make sure he was seeing right. They were really cute pictures of him and Damian doing various activities. Watching movies, playing games, and even some videos in where Damian was telling him of “The Heroic Adventures of Robin III” and then dictated the events of some of Tim’s old Robin cases.

It was…really cute. Damian looked so enthralled in the story. He ended up watching a lot of videos and scrolling through Damian’s phone for a very long time. He figured out that Damian and him had grown quite a relationship in the past few days. He also discovered one video of Damian telling him exactly why he had always been mean to him, and that just melted Tim’s heart.

It was hard to tell Damian was really admiring him through the insults, but he guessed it made sense. Damian had always had difficulties expressing emotions.

Tim decided to let Damian keep the files, but he wanted a copy of his own. Halfway through the download however, he heard footsteps heading up the stairs. He completely lost track of time.

From just outside the room, he could here Damian and Bruce’s conversation.

“Father, it will be a good investment.” Damian argued. They weren’t that close to the door yet. He had about a minute to finish the download.

“Is that what you call it now?”

“It is simply a way to make it seem more logical. But Father, having another child has both logical and emotional advantages.”

“I thought you didn’t want anymore siblings.” Tim could imagine Bruce raising his eyebrow at that comment. 

“Anymore _older_ siblings, but a younger one is perfectly fine. He can train to become my Robin when I become Batman, and you will get the full joys of parenthood by having the child starting from infancy. Grayson calls it a ‘win-win’ scenario.”

“Does this have something to do with the fact that you got to play older brother while Tim was still a child?”

“That is absurd Father. I’m just saying that you could easily get me another sibling and it would really be no problem. It could even be a biological one this time. Like me.”

“Damian, how do you think I would get another biological child?” Tim could hear the hesitancy in Bruce’s voice. It was obvious he did not know how to broach such a… sensitive topic.

“Grayson says you have to write to the baby delivery company in the sky and then they send a baby via stork. But I think he is lying.” 

Tim nearly doubled over and laughed at that.

“Oh?” Bruce replied. Damian didn’t buy it and now Tim could imagine the face Bruce had trying to come up with a way to explain it slowly.

“Yes. But Todd told me a more believable, and more powerful way. He said that Wonder Woman was made from clay and given life by the power of Zeus. If we made a baby from clay, we could mold him in whatever way we prefer. Perhaps he will get powers like Wonder Woman.”

_It got better._

“Um, yes. Right. I’ll think about it, probably not. Go to bed Damian.”

“Good night Father.” 

“Good night.”

The door to the room swung open before Tim could find a place to hide. He had been caught red handed.

“Drake? What are you doing here?”

Tim couldn’t stop the laughter that came out. “So, Lil’D, storks or clay?”

Tim would tell him one day, but for now, he simply bolted out of the room, stolen images in his phone, and laughed at his little brother’s adorable innocence. Despite the daily annoyances, being brothers with him wasn’t bad at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END. Hope you liked the story! Thank you all for sticking with me through the inconsistent updates and grammar mistakes and everything! Thank you to those who have consistently commented and left me tips or encouragement! It really means a lot.
> 
> This is the first multi-chapter fic that I've ever written so thank you all for reading!
> 
> Constructive criticism, tips, and all that jazz is welcome! (And, if you have any suggestions for part two, leave it in the comments and I'll try to incorporate it)


End file.
